Using market forces to protect and restore ecosystems.

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Bios and Abstracts

Pre-Conference Primer

David Judge-Lord, Willamette Partnership: Devin Judge-Lord leads the Counting on the Environment Extension Project with the Willamette Partnership. He leads the Partnership’s extension throughout the Northwest, working with local leaders to build programs and with policymakers to develop regionally consistent standards. He also leads the development and integration of protocols for nutrients and sediments into the Partnership’s multi-credit framework. Prior, as a Ducey Fellow for Public Policy, Devin developed theory and methods for assessing ecosystem market viability. He also previously worked with the Center for Transboundary Cooperation in St. Petersburg, Russia. Devin holds a B.A. in political science from Reed College and his research focuses on governance of transboundary natural systems and the political foundations of markets.

Tracy Stanton, Ecosystem Marketplace: Tracy leads the work on expanding coverage of issues related to payments for watershed services and other markets-based mechanisms for water-related ecosystem services for Ecosystem Marketplace and Forest Trends. Tracy was lead author of the foundational report, State of Watershed Payments: An Emerging Marketplace, published in June 2010, which served to quantify global investment in payment for watershed services. Prior to joining Forest Trends, Tracy worked as a consultant for the National Academy of Public Administration where she collaborated on an assessment of US EPA’s delivery of environmental services using the Chesapeake Bay watershed as a learning platform. She holds a Master in Public and Environmental Policy from the University of Maryland and a BA from The Ohio State University.

Welcoming Remarks

Todd Gartner, World Resources Institute: Todd Gartner is a Senior Associate for the World Resources Institute’s People and Ecosystems Program. He focuses on developing new ways to finance conservation though the use of conservation incentives and market-based strategies, such as biodiversity offsets, payments for watershed services, and carbon markets. Todd works with a broad range of stakeholders including landowners, regulators, fortune 500 companies, and local partners to achieve conservation objectives both domestically and abroad. Gartner earned his Master of Forestry degree from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies and a B.S. in finance from University of Maryland’s Smith School of Business. Gartner’s previous work included developing and running the conservation incentives program at the American Forest Foundation, field forestry in New England, fire ecology and eco-tourism research in Botswana and India, business consulting for the USDA Forest Service and several years as a corporate financial consultant. He is also a Doris Duke Conservation Fellow, Switzer Environmental Fellow, Environmental Leadership Program Fellow, and Property and Environmental Research Center Fellow.

Tom Martin, American Forest Foundation: Tom Martin is President and CEO of the American Forest Foundation. He and his sister manage two hundred acres of mixed hardwoods in their family property in Wisconsin. Formerly, he served as the Executive Vice President of the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA, the citizens advocacy group for a superlative National Park system). He also served as President and Member of the Board of Directors of Earth Force, Inc., the nation’s largest young people’s environmental and citizenship education and action group. Prior to that he was the Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of the National Audubon Society.

Tom was Deputy Director of Policy, Budget and Administration, Michigan Department of Natural Resources. As the Founding Director, Michigan Offices of the Great Lakes and Water Resources, State Water Administrator, Michigan Department of Natural Resources, he acted as chief advocate on these issues for Michigan before Congress, international and regional bodies.

Tom is currently a member of the Northland College Board of Trustees. He has served as Board Chair of the Natural Resources Council of America; Chair and Founding Member of the Great Lakes Protection Fund, a $100+M public endowment to fund Great Lakes research and demonstration projects; Chair of the Great Lakes Commission, an 8‑state, regional government organization; as a member of the Governor’s Commission on a Sustainable South Florida; and as Vice President of the Council of Great Lakes Governors.

Tom holds a B.S. from The American University, Washington DC, a Juris Doctor from the UCLA School of Law, and was admitted to the Michigan Bar in 1979.

Opening Plenary

Plenary Session 1: The Current State of Ecosystem Markets

Abstract:

Over the past decade interest in ecosystem services valuation has grown exponentially; major research programs like the Natural Capital Project are being tested around the world; a series of conferences, like this one, are being held to focus attention on the topic; nearly every natural resource association, from the Society of American Foresters to Ecological Society of American are holding sessions on the topic; most large conservation organizations are staffing the issue; and government agencies are being formed to address it. Conservation banking (for wetlands and biodiversity) is the oldest and most established market; newer markets are emerging for water and air quality, but much more slowly. This panel will explore where we are today, review the pace of progress, and evaluate the lessons, opportunities, and challenges for environmental markets.

Panelists:

Adam Davis, Solano Partners, Inc.:Adam Davis is a Partner and Director of Research, Policy & New Markets for Ecosystem Investment Partners (EIP), a private equity fund manager that acquires and manages high priority conservation properties across the United States. EIP delivers competitive returns to its investors through the use of new, market-based mechanisms that reward landowners for the restoration and protection of their natural resources (such as wetlands, streams and endangered species), as well as the sustainable use of more traditional resources (such as forestry and agriculture). Adam also serves as the President of Solano Partners, Inc., was Co-Founder and previous Editor-in-Chief of the Ecosystem Marketplace.

Craig Hanson, World Resources Institute:Craig Hanson is Director of WRI’s People & Ecosystems Program, which seeks to reverse the rapid degradation of ecosystems and assure their capacity to provide humans with needed goods and services. He is the lead author of Southern Forests for the Future, the Corporate Ecosystem Service Review, the Corporate Guide to Green Power Markets series, and the Tax Reform, Energy and the Environment series (with The Brookings Institution). Prior to becoming Director, Craig managed the Green Power Market Development Group-US and launched the Green Power Market Development Group-Europe. Prior to joining WRI, he was a management consultant with McKinsey & Company.

Bobby McCormick, Clemson University, Property and Environment Research Center:Since 2002, McCormick has been a senior fellow and directed the environmental entrepreneurs at PERC, a program designed for professionals who want to have a better understanding of how business and economic principles can be applied to environmental problems. In 2001, he was a Julian Simon Fellow at PERC. He is heavily engaged in the research of carbon sequestration and its impact on global warming. In this research, McCormick is investigating how income affects carbon sequestration as a solution for global warming.

Lynn Scarlett, Resources for the Future: Lynn Scarlett has extensive experience in both government and in academia on issues related to effective stewardship of land, water, and wildlife resources. As Deputy Secretary and Chief Operating Officer of the U.S. Department of the Interior from 2005 to 2009, she had broad responsibilities for federal land management, wetlands, and ecosystem oversight.

Scarlett was Deputy Secretary and Chief Operating Officer of the Interior Department from 2005 to 2009, a post she took on after four years as the Department’s Assistant Secretary for Policy, Management, and Budget. She was named acting secretary of the Department for two months in 2006, and chaired the Department’s Climate Change Task Force.

From 1982 through 2001, she held a variety of positions at the Los Angeles-based Reason Foundation. After leaving government, she was an independent consultant with the Environmental Defense Fund on issues pertaining to climate, ecosystem services, and stewardship of open lands.

She is a member of the national Commission on Climate and Tropical Forests and was chair of the federal Wildland Fire Leadership Council. She serves on the boards of the American Hiking Society and the Continental Divide Trail Alliance and is a trustee emeritus of the Udall Foundation.

Moderated by Sally Collins, Rights and Resources Initiative Fellow, Former Director of the USDA Office of Environmental Markets:Sally Collins is a Fellow for Rights and Resources Initiative, where she co-chairs Megaflorestais, an effort to bring the leaders of forest agencies from around the world together to discuss the issues facing the world’s forests. Prior to this, she served as the first director for the Office of Environmental Markets in USDA, the Associate Chief of the US Forest Service, Forest Supervisor of Deschutes National Forest, and numerous other positions with the USDA and DOI. Sally also serves on the American Forest Foundation Board of Trustees.

Plenary Session 2: Policies to Support Ecosystem Services and Markets

Abstract:

Federal and state agencies play a central role in facilitating or frustrating market-based approaches to the conservation of ecosystem services. Regulations drive most markets but exiting regulations tend to operate in silos consistent with the agencies and programs in which they are imbedded. The transition to a more efficient, effective, and integrated approach to investment in ecosystem services by the public and private sectors that includes both traditional and innovative strategies will require the adoption of enlightened approaches at every level of government. This panel will offer suggestions and dialogue with participants to examine existing authorities and propose new policy directions. Specific issues include revisions to the next Farm Bill, ecosystem service payments to landowners, the need for strategic investment and enhanced conservation outcomes at relevant scales, and steps agencies can take within existing authorities to stimulate investment prior to the listing of endangered species. The panel will also discuss appropriate roles for government and the private sector in the development of metrics and market infrastructure, including the future of the Office of Environmental Markets.

Panelists:

Jimmy Daukas, American Farmland Trust: Jimmy is the Managing Director, Agriculture & Environment Initiative for the American Farmland Trust. He directs the Trust’s Agriculture & Environment Initiative helping farmers and ranchers improve water quality and combat climate change while maintaining an economically viable agricultural sector. The Initiative focuses on policy solutions, environmental markets and on-farm demonstrations in the Chesapeake Bay, Upper Mississippi River, Ohio River Basin, California, Washington and New York. Since 1997 Daukas has managed AFT national policy campaigns including the 2008 Farm Bill campaign and held senior management positions in communications and development. Daukas has a BA in economics from Middlebury College and an MBA and MPM from the University of Maryland. He lives in Takoma Park, MD.

Mary Snieckus, American Forest Foundation: Mary Snieckus is the manager of conservation incentives and markets with the American Forest Foundation. A Wisconsin native, she holds a BS in Forestry from UW-Madison, and an MS in Forest Policy from the University of New Hampshire. Prior to joining AFF, Mary consulted on forestry issues and natural resource policy with conservation organizations around the country, and was the first Executive Director of the Forest Guild. Mary worked with communities and businesses as a rural development specialist with the State and Private Forestry branch of the US Forest Service in New England, and began her forestry career on the Tongass National Forest in Thorne Bay, AK.

David Wolfe, Environmental Defense Fund:David Wolfe (M.S. Ecology, University of Georgia, 1993) is Texas Regional Wildlife Director with Environmental Defense Fund. Mr. Wolfe began his conservation career as a field ecologist with The Nature Conservancy and he has since held a variety of conservation science, stewardship and management positions. In 2000 he began working as a scientist with EDF to implement incentive-based programs for conservation of endangered species on private lands in Texas. Mr. Wolfe was a leader in the development of the Fort Hood Recovery Credit System and he is currently working with partners to develop guidance for pre-compliance banking systems.

Peter Hoar, Marstel-Day:Peter Hoar is the ecosystem services program manager for Marstel-Day, coordinating development and implementation of ecosystem services components into current and future Marstel-Day projects. Mr. Hoar provides senior review of all relevant company documents and work products to ensure that marine/coastal management and ecosystems services sections are adequately and accurately characterized. He also undertakes business development efforts for the company’s ecosystem services and conservation business lines with resource management and regulatory agencies, non-profit organizations, universities and other for-profit business. Mr. Hoar leads ecosystem services-related projects and provides mentoring and subject-matter-expert advice to Marstel-Day staff and project leads.

Moderated by Sara Vickerman, Defenders of Wildlife:Sara is the senior director for biodiversity partnerships for Defenders of Wildlife, and director of the Northwest office. She serves on the Oregon Sustainability Board, American Forest Foundation and Willamette Partnership Boards, and advisory committees for the Doris Duke Foundation, Oregon Institute for Natural Resources, and Oregon Solutions. She successfully promoted conservation incentives and sustainability legislation in Oregon, and bills that encourage state agencies and local governments to use markets and payments for ecosystem services. She is also involved in developing recommendations for policy changes at the federal level and is working on metrics for habitat and biodiversity.

Breakout Sessions

Breakout 1A: Ecosystem Services Markets: Boom Or Bust? Where To From Here?

Abstract:

To judge by murmurings at recent conferences, from policy makers, funders and practitioners, Ecosystem Service markets are falling short of expectations. Were they oversold from the beginning? Or has not enough development time passed? Are there realistic expectations for the role they might play in conservation finance – perhaps a transitional one? What can we learn from market successes and failures to date? What has tool development taught us so far about creating a functioning system that will allow ecosystem services restoration and conservation to move forward productively? Is the concept fundamentally flawed as conceived: What are the dangers of separating whole systems into component parts, and trading credits for them? What happens to markets if existing regulations are not enforced, if agencies are reluctant to use market-based approaches to meet regulatory goals, and if policy makers are reluctant to impose new regulations? Please come participate in a friendly and lively debate tackling questions like these and the challenges they raise. We hope you will leave with some new perspectives and better ideas for moving forward in your own work. The debate will continue online after the panel discussion at www.ecosystemcommons.org.

Panelists:

Bobby Cochran, Willamette Partnership: Cochran is the Executive Director for the Willamette Partnership, a nonprofit coalition of business, environmental, and other leaders working to enhance the pace, scope, and effectiveness of restoration in the Northwest. It specializes in the design and operation of emerging markets for ecosystem services. Bobby has worked on market-based policies for environmental organizations, a water utility, and international efforts. He received a Ph.D./M.A. in Urban Studies/Conflict Resolution from Portland State University, and his Masters in Public Policy from the University of Southern California.

Tim Gieseke, Ag Resource Strategis, LLC:Tim Gieseke’s career has focused on agro-ecological issues since receiving his master’s degree in environmental sciences at Minnesota State University – Mankato. During the last two decades he has experience as a farmer, conservation agency staff, federal farm policy analyst, a business owner and most recently as the author of EcoCommerce 101, a book published February 2011 that describes an environmental market signal for agro-ecosystems. His business, Ag Resource Strategies, LLC developed an AgEQA delivery model to provide governance and landscape data support for emerging ecomarkets. He, his wife and three sons reside on their farm in southern Minnesota.

Dennis Canty, American Farmland Trust:Canty joined American Farmland Trust in January 2011 as the Pacific Northwest Director. Canty has worked with AFT as a consultant since 2003, helping the organization develop a farmer-friendly approach to salmon recovery, found and manage the Pioneers in Conservation grant program, and develop opportunities for farmer access to environmental markets. He is co-author of the Farmers and Ranchers Guide to Environmental Markets and numerous articles and briefing papers.

Canty comes to AFT from Evergreen Funding Consultants, a Seattle firm he founded in 2001 that focuses on funding strategies for environmental projects. Canty brings extensive experience working with local and state agencies and governments, non-profit organizations, and Indian tribes throughout the Northwest. Prior to launching Evergreen, he worked as a conservation specialist and watershed planner for a variety of local and federal agencies. He has also been a member of various boards and commissions, currently serving as a mayoral appointee to a committee overseeing a $120 million park and open space bond in Seattle.

Canty holds a B.A. in Environmental Planning from Evergreen State College, and a Masters in Regional Planning from the University of Pennsylvania, where he served as a research assistant on the National Agricultural Lands Study. In the distant past, he has served as a teacher’s aid in a vocational agriculture program, a straw boss for a corn detasseling crew, and a tractor driver during.

Tracy Stanton, Ecosystem Marketplace: Tracy leads the work on expanding coverage of issues related to payments for watershed services and other markets-based mechanisms for water-related ecosystem services for Ecosystem Marketplace and Forest Trends. Tracy was lead author of the foundational report, State of Watershed Payments: An Emerging Marketplace, published in June 2010, which served to quantify global investment in payment for watershed services. Prior to joining Forest Trends, Tracy worked as a consultant for the National Academy of Public Administration where she collaborated on an assessment of US EPA’s delivery of environmental services using the Chesapeake Bay watershed as a learning platform. She holds a Master in Public and Environmental Policy from the University of Maryland and a BA from The Ohio State University.

Moderated by Sally Duncan, Institute for Natural Resources, Oregon State University:Serendipity provided Sally with a diverse personal and professional background to help build her expertise in working across social and biophysical disciplines, from Australian farm girl to mother to journalism instructor to science writer to video producer to policy research director.

In her work at INR, she is committed to improving the multi-faceted connections between scientific research with all its limitations and opportunities, and the complex worlds of decision makers and stakeholders. Today’s hefty natural resource challenges – managing for climate change, sustainability, ecosystem services, integrated data, and land/water policy conflicts – provide ample opportunities to pursue the quest at INR for better solutions, stronger partnerships, cross-agency collaborations, and the best working environment we can produce.

Breakout 1B: How Payments for Ecosystem Services Can Help Meet Industry Sustainability Goals

Abstract:

Companies are key players in ecosystem markets, as they commercialize and scale up the valuation and investment in ecosystem services. This panel will explore Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) as a means of attaining corporate water and carbon neutrality, protecting natural resources key to business performance, and increasing supply chain value. Panelists will discuss the major environmental issues that capture the attention of industry today and how ecosystem services can play a role in attaining those goals. Companies with experience or interest putting PES into practice will discuss the business value and specific opportunities related to PES. The panel will also share opinions how to overcome the challenges of corporate involvement in PES, such as standards development, uncertainty, liability, and creating legitimacy for new environmental projects inside a company.

Panelists:

Michele Schulz, Syngenta: Michele Schulz is the Sustainability Policy Lead for Syngenta, LLC in North America. Michele is engaged in many sustainability and ecosystem services initiatives in food and agriculture. Syngenta provides technology for greater yields. Today’s technologies unlock the potential of plants to help farmers grow more using less water and land. Prior to working in sustainability Michele managed the regulatory fungicide portfolio at Syngenta. She holds degrees from the University of Wisconsin and North Dakota State University. Michele’s family owns and operates a livestock and corn/soybean farm in central Wisconsin.

Jess McGlyn, World Business Council for Sustainable Development: Jessica McGlyn is Director of World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) U.S., Inc. based in Washington DC. WBCSD is a CEO-led, global business association of some 200 companies dealing exclusively with business and sustainable development. The Council provides a platform for companies to explore sustainable development, share knowledge, experiences and best practices, and to advocate business positions on these issues in a variety of forums, working with governments, non-governmental and intergovernmental organizations. Prior to WBCSD, Jessica was a lobbyist for the World Wildlife Fund where she advocated with US government on a variety of conservation, climate, trade and development issues. At WWF, Jessica also led an initiative to integrate conservation with development policy and partnered with leading Development NGOs to advocate for modernized U.S. foreign assistance. Jessica started her career in the forest products sector, working for over a decade for International Paper in a variety of environmental and operational positions. Jessica holds a Masters in Science from Yale and a BS in Biology and BA in History from Messiah College.

Peter Dykstra, The Wilderness Society: Peter Dykstra is the Pacific Northwest Regional Director at The Wilderness Society. Based in Seattle, Peter works throughout Washington and Oregon. He also serves on TWS’s Recreation Program Leadership Team.
Prior to joining The Wilderness Society, Peter worked at The Trust for Public Land for 5.5 years where he served as Washington State Director and managed conservation transactions, lobbied for appropriations, created conservation strategies with partners, and developed local conservation finance efforts across the state. During his tenure, TPL and its partners protected over 35,000 acres and secured over $300 million in conservation funding for Washington State. Prior to getting into land conservation, he worked as a water and land use attorney for a small nonprofit and for two law firms, as well as having a stint as an Assistant Attorney General for Washington.

Peter also serves as an Adjunct Professor at Seattle University, teaching Environmental Law and Policy, and has been an Adjunct Lecturer in Land Use Planning Law at the University of Washington. In addition to his conservation and teaching pursuits, Peter and his wife, Janine, stay busy raising their two children, Ruby and Adam.

Moderated by Suzanne Ozment, World Resources Institute & Stephanie Gripne, University of Colorado: Suzanne Ozment is Research Analyst for the Business & Ecosystem Services project at the World Resources Institute, focusing on how ecosystem services considerations can improve corporate performance. In this role, she assesses and writes about the business implications of ecosystem change, convenes corporate partners to advance innovative strategies that restore ecosystems, and develops business decision support tools. She also provides outreach through platforms such as the Ecosystem Services Experts Directory and the LinkedIn Business & Ecosystems Professionals Group.

Breakout 1C: How do Ecosystem Services Stack Up?

Abstract:

Despite lively debate and discussion on stacking we have few real examples of how stacking is or will be implemented in existing programs. In this panel, reality will meet theory. Two programs that have been developing methods for stacking multiple services will describe their approach, their hopes for the programs, and their concerns. This will be followed by presentations by two academic researchers who have been involved in policy development of ecosystem markets, and thus have a grounding in experience, but despite this, have contrasting views of the potential benefits and pitfalls of stacking. They will touch on the potential for loss of environmental benefits versus critical gains in market efficiency.

Panelists:

Richard Woodward, Texas A&M University: Richard Woodward is a professor in the Department of Agricultural Economics at Texas A&M. He received his PhD from the University of Wisconsin – Madison and his undergraduate degree at Middlebury College. His research has spanned a range of issues in applied economics related to environment and natural resources including choice under uncertainty and the economics of sustainability. In recent years he has focused primarily on the use of market-based approaches to address environmental problems. He has studied market-based approaches for improving water quality, controlling fishing effort, and preventing deforestation. He has also led a team that developed an online tool for teaching market-based approaches, edu.NutrientNet.org.

Jimmy Daukas, American Farmland Trust:Jimmy Daukas directs AFT’s Agriculture & Environment Initiative helping farmers and ranchers improve water quality and combat climate change while maintaining an economically viable agricultural sector. The Initiative focuses on policy solutions, environmental markets and on-farm demonstrations in the Chesapeake Bay, Upper Mississippi River, Ohio River Basin, California, Washington and New York. Since 1997 Daukas has managed AFT national policy campaigns including the 2008 Farm Bill campaign and held senior management positions in communications and development. Daukas has a BA in economics from Middlebury College and an MBA and MPM from the University of Maryland. He lives in Takoma Park, MD.

Devin Judge-Lord, Willamette Partnership: Devin Judge-Lordleads the Counting on the Environment Extension Project with the Willamette Partnership. He leads the Partnership’s extension throughout the Northwest, working with local leaders to build programs and with policymakers to develop regionally consistent standards. He also leads the development and integration of protocols for nutrients and sediments into the Partnership’s multi-credit framework. Prior, as a Ducey Fellow for Public Policy, Devin developed theory and methods for assessing ecosystem market viability. He also previously worked with the Center for Transboundary Cooperation in St. Petersburg, Russia. Devin holds a B.A. in political science from Reed College and his research focuses on governance of transboundary natural systems and the political foundations of markets.

Moderated by Lydia Olander, Duke University:Lydia Olander directs the Nicholas Institute’s program in ecosystem services. Currently she is developing the Institute’s and Duke’s expanding initiative on ecosystem services; coordinating Duke’s Ecosystem Services Working Group; coordinating the development of a National Ecosystem Services Partnership; helping to coordinate the Institute’s programs on land based greenhouse gas mitigation; directing the Technical Working Group on Agricultural Greenhouse Gases. Lydia spent a year as a AAAS Congressional Science and Technology Fellow working with Sen. Joseph Lieberman on environmental and energy issues. Before moving to Washington, D.C., she was a researcher with the Carnegie Institution of Washington’s department of global ecology. She received her doctorate from Stanford University, and a masters in forest science from Yale University.

Breakout 1D: Carbon From A Policy Perspective: What’s Next?

Abstract:

Panelists:

Richardo Bayon, EKO Asset Management:

Tiffany Potter, EcoAnalytics: Tiffany McCormick Potter founded Ecoanalytics with 15 years of experience in carbon markets, environmental law and policy, and forestry science. EcoAnalytics, formerly branded as Streamline, is a marketing intelligence, advisory services, and consulting practice for eco-asset development. As founder, she advises clients developing forest, wetland, and agricultural carbon projects in Hawaii, Louisiana, Honduras, Canada, Belize, Russia, and Korea to name a few. Prior, she was recruited to Equator’s EcoProducts Fund’s 100 million dollar private equity fund for environmental markets as Vice President. As Head of Origination, she managed environmental-asset origination efforts, and managed aspects of carbon and environmental-asset transactions, project development, and policy development. Formerly, she was a senior analyst for Point Carbon, where she launched a first-of-kind trading analytics tool for North American carbon markets used by major banks, hedge funds, and governmental branches of US Government. Prior to that, she was a project director at the Yale Center for Environmental Law and Policy. In addition, Ms. Potter has served as a delegate to the World Assembly of the United Nations on matters pertaining to the Kyoto Protocol and as a threatened and endangered species biologist for the National Park Service for eight years and forester to the US Forest Service. Tiffany has a Bachelor’s of Forestry from the University of Vermont and a Master’s of Environmental Management from Yale University.

Nick Martin, American Carbon Registry:Nicholas Martin is Chief Technical Officer for the American Carbon Registry, the United States’ oldest voluntary GHG registry and standards program. He is responsible for developing new offset protocols, screening projects, overseeing third-party verification, and tracking U.S. federal, regional and state climate policy. Nick has led development of ACR protocols for improved forest management, REDD+, agricultural fertilizer management, livestock manure management, fugitive methane in the oil & gas sector, landfill methane, natural gas energy efficiency, and other areas. He also leads ACR’s work in China developing agriculture, forestry and other land use methodologies for the Panda Standard. Nick came to ACR from Xcel Energy, where he led analysis of climate legislation and regulations for an electric utility serving 8 states and was the company’s lead technical resource on carbon offset project development. Nick earlier managed Winrock International’s terrestrial carbon work under the US Department of Energy – West Coast Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership, forest carbon research for the US Forest Service and State of California, and measurement of Lower Mississippi Valley reforestation projects. He also worked for the Zuni Indian Tribe in New Mexico, where he created and managed the Zuni Forest Products Enterprise. Nick has a background in forest management, energy and natural resources, with an MS in Energy and Resources from the University of California at Berkeley. He serves on the American National Standards Institute’s GHG Validation/Verification Accreditation Committee and on the Panda Standard Technical Committee.

Scott Nissenbaum, Finite Carbon: Scott served for three years as the lead investor and chairman of the board for ImageTree Corporation, a company with patented platform technology and a proprietary process that provides accurate and consistent assessment of forest resources to improve forest management and financial performance. His close involvement with ImageTree led him to recognize forest landowners’ need for a single-source forest carbon development company that facilitates entry into emerging carbon markets. In addition to his knowledge of the forestry industry, Scott also brings to Finite Carbon a background in finance. He has a B.S. degree in finance from Pennsylvania State University and an MBA in finance from St. Joseph’s University. Scott spent more than a decade as a venture capitalist in the Philadelphia area with Novitas Capital. As president of Finite Carbon, he was responsible for assembling the management team and oversees the daily operations of the company.

David Tepper, Forest Trends: David Tepper is one of the leading investors in the carbon markets and has been involved in carbon reduction strategies and sustainable land managment strategies since 1999. He was responsible for the carbon finance team that managed over $1billion for Climate Change Capital from 2005 to 2007 and during that time invested over $800m in carbon reduction projects in the emerging markets.. Over the last few years he has been focused on using carbon finance to accelerate land restoration, conservation and sustainable land use around the world. He is a member of the Executive management team for Forest Trends http://www.forest-trends.org , a Washington DC based NGO focused on using market mechanisms and payment for ecosystem services to finance sustainable land use. David is an expert on structuring private sector finance with emerging climate change regulatory and voluntary markets. He advices Governments, multi-laterals project developers and private investors on the design of terrestrial carbon finance opportunities. David is developing public private sector mechanisms and financial architecture in the emerging REDD markets. David is also the Managing Partner of The Earth Partners http://www.theearthpartners.com , a North American based land restoration developer of degraded lands and bioenergy supplier, utilizing traditional conservation finance and agricultural and forestry models with emerging bio-energy crops and payment for ecosystem services. The Earth Partners has developed a soil quantification methodology and has been testing the method and its applications on low carbon farming and land restoration projects at the landscape level on a number of projects around the world.

Moderated by Mark Nechodom, Senior Advisor for Environmental Markets, US Department of Agriculture: Dr. Mark Nechodom is the Senior Policy Advisor for Environmental Markets to the Secretary of Agriculture at the US Department of Agriculture. His primary responsibilities are to lead USDA’s strategy for environmental market development, support emerging regional environmental markets and serve as a policy liaison to key federal agencies that shape the field of environmental market opportunities.

Dr. Nechodom previously served as Acting Director of the newly-founded Office of Environmental Markets at USDA, as Senior Climate Science Policy Advisor for the US Forest Service, as a senior research scientist with the US Forest Service, and was a Visiting Scholar at the University of California, Davis.

Dr. Nechodom‘s early career included being an agricultural and environmental policy advisor, consultant and researcher in Mexico and other parts of Latin America. He was a visiting lecturer at the Universidad de Michoacán and published a book at Johns Hopkins School for Advanced International Studies on food and agricultural policy in rural Mexico. He earned his doctorate in political science and environmental policy from the University of California, Santa Cruz, where he taught for several years before joining the federal government.

Breakout 2A: Pre‐Compliance Conservation Banking Panel

Abstract:

Laws such as The Endangered Species Act (ESA) and state endangered species laws are designed to protect species and their habitat facing, or likely to face, extinction. The ESA in particular has long been a lightning rod for political debate regarding the extent of protection of our nation’s natural resources. Implementation has been the focus of numerous lawsuits that have consumed substantial program resources. Further exacerbating the situation is that incentives for the conservation of rare species, before they are listed, are largely missing from these laws. Preemptive conservation actions, before formal government regulation, are more efficient, less contentious, and more cost–‐effective. There is a growing interest across many sectors for pre–‐compliance conservation banking programs. Under such a framework, individuals, agencies, or institutions that foresee having impacts on a species can preemptively buy habitat credits to offset those future impacts, and individuals or institutions who own appropriate land can engage in management practices that qualify them to sell habitat credits for a profit. A pre–‐compliance conservation banking program can also attract additional buyers that are interested in buying conservation outcomes as strategic philanthropy and corporate social responsibility efforts. The panel will discuss how pre–‐compliance frameworks could be structured, along with the advantages and challenges to implementing such programs. The panel will consist of representatives of potential “buyers” and “sellers” of habitat credits, regulators of potential programs, and foundations that are interested in facilitating this market–‐based approach. A pre–‐compliance conservation program is applicable and scalable across many species and regions in the United States, and if executed properly could provide preemptive biodiversity conservation gains prior to costly regulatory triggers.

Panelists:

Trevor Cutsinger, US Army Environmental Command: Trevor is from Aiken, SC and received a B.A. from Furman University in Greenville, SC in 2007 before attending Duke University for a Masters degree in Environmental Management from the Nicholas School in 2009. He then began work for the U.S. Army at Fort Benning, Georgia and primarily worked on Army Compatible Use Buffering (ACUB) initiatives, specifically related to threatened and endangered species. He now works for the U.S. Army Environmental Command in San Antonio, TX focused on the ACUB Program.

Todd Gartner, World Resources Institute: Todd Gartner is a Senior Associate for the World Resources Institute’s People and Ecosystems Program. He focuses on place-based conservation incentives and market-based strategies, such as biodiversity offsets, payments for watershed services, and carbon markets, to achieve conservation objectives both domestically and abroad. Gartner has a M.F. from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies and a B.S. in finance from University of Maryland’s Smith School of Business. He is also a Doris Duke Conservation Fellow, Switzer Environmental Fellow, Environmental Leadership Program Fellow, and Property and Environmental Research Center Fellow. Gartner’s previous work included developing and running the conservation incentives program at the American Forest Foundation, fire ecology and eco-tourism research in Botswana and India, business consulting for the USDA Forest Service and several years as a corporate financial consultant.

Shauna Ginger, US Fish and Wildlife Service:

Moderated by Josh Donlan, Advanced Conservation Strategies: Josh Donlan is the Executive Director of Advanced Conservation Strategies, whose purpose is to deliver innovative, self-sustaining, and economically efficient solutions to environmental challenges by building cross-sector synergy and integrating biological, economic, technological, and socio-political threats and opportunities. He leads the organization by building interdisciplinary teams to tackle problems in novel ways. Trained as an ecologist and conservation biologist, Josh holds a Ph.D. from Cornell University, an M.A. from University of California, and an undergraduate degree from Northern Arizona University. He has worked on a variety of environmental issues in over a dozen countries, including the management of invasive species, environmental restoration, ecological history, and developing financial and incentive instruments for environmental conservation. Josh has published more than 70 scientific and public articles on environmental topics, including those receiving attention in the mainstream media, such as the Financial Times, ABC Good Morning America, the BBC, and CNN with Lou Dobbs.

Josh served as the Chief Scientist for Project Isabela in Galápagos Islands, the world’s largest island restoration project. He currently serves as a key advisor to the Chilean and Argentinean governments on the restoration of the Tierra del Fuego bioregion. Josh has been recognized internationally for his contributions and innovations. He is currently a Guggenheim Fellow and a Research Fellow at Cornell University. He has held fellowships with the Alcoa Foundation, Kinship Foundation, Switzer Foundation, Environmental Leadership Program, and the Copeland Fellowship in Global Sustainability at Amherst College. He was selected as finalist in the Marketplace on Innovative Financial Solutions for Development Competition sponsored by the Gates Foundation, World Bank, and Agence Française de Développement. He was highlighted in New York Times Magazine’s Big Ideas of 2005 and named to the list of “25 Saving the Planet” by Outside Magazine in 2005. Josh is a Technical Expert for the UNEP/Convention Migratory Species Secretariat, and recently co-chaired the committee for recommendations for the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity from the UNESCO International Year of Biodiversity Science Policy Conference. He has been invited to talk about biodiversity conservation and nature to over 35 audiences in thirteen countries over the past five years, and lives outside of Park City, Utah.

In a credit trading program, a baseline is the minimum set of practices or minimum level of performance which a participant must meet before he/she may implement additional practices from which tradable environmental credits can be generated. Determining the level of a baseline for agricultural non-point sources is critical to the success of water quality trading (WQT) programs. A baseline has implications that ripple throughout the rest of the trading system, affecting the supply and price of credits, the agricultural sector’s level of participation, general support for the program, and more. WQT programs being developed in the U.S. must select some form of baseline requirements that would make participants eligible to generate tradable credits, but their approaches to setting baselines differ markedly.

The U.S. EPA’s 2003 Water Quality Trading Policy explains that a baseline for generating WQT credits should be derived from, and be consistent with existing water quality standards. The Policy defines a credit as a pollutant reduction greater than what is required by a regulatory requirement or other mechanism established under a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL). The specific definitions for baselines, however, differ between WQT programs in the U.S. thereby causing confusion for potential participants. Non-point source baselines can be set to be very restrictive, can be set quite low, or can change over time. Each approach presents its merits and challenges. This panel session will delve into these issues with subject matter experts providing their perspective and with a moderated discussion with the audience.

Panelists:

Cy Jones, World Resources Institute: Cy Jones leads the Water Quality Trading Initiative for the Chesapeake Bay watershed. The goal of this initiative is to advance market-based efforts to reduce nutrient pollution impacting the Chesapeake Bay watershed and to promote the development of a framework for interstate nutrient trading.

Prior to joining WRI, Cy had a 24 year career with the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission in Laurel, Maryland, where he managed the regional and regulatory affairs of the water and sewer agency. He spent the intervening two years since retiring from WSSC as a Senior Technologist with the engineering firm of CH2M HILL, where he worked on developing nutrient trading programs in Virginia, Maryland, and North Carolina.

Cy has a BA in Zoology and a MS in Environmental Engineering from the University of Iowa.

Susan Payne, Maryland Department of Agriculture: Susan Payne coordinates the Maryland Department of Agriculture’s overall Ecosystem Markets Program and administers the Maryland Nutrient Trading Program. In addition to working with relevant federal and state agencies and entities, she sits on a number of interagency and regional committees addressing carbon trading, interstate ecosystem markets, climate change, and greenhouse gas reductions. Susan holds both a BA and MS from the University of Pennsylvania, and her credentials include almost 20 years of experience in the securities industry in New York City.

Mark Kieser, Kieser & Associates:

David Primozich, Fresh Water Trust:: David has a decade of experience helping people make decisions about management and use of natural resources. Previously, David served as Executive Director of the Willamette Partnership, and helped secure agreement on the measurement systems and infrastructure around ecosystem services. He also developed and implemented new approaches to engage private landowners in policy making that effects their land; managed production of technical strategies to guide fish and wildlife conservation investment; and, managed comprehensive planning for Parks and Open Space in Oregon. David has earned undergraduate degrees in Applied Science –Agriculture from Clark College, Anthropology at University of Oregon, and a master’s degree in Applied Anthropology at Oregon State University.

Moderated by Carl Lucero, USDA Office of Environmental Markets:

Breakout 2C: Back 40s, Backyards, and Landowners: The supply side of ecosystem markets

Abstract:

Emerging ecosystem markets and payment for ecosystem services programs seek to engage landowners to generate supply. Indeed, large-scale conservation of ecosystems the services they provide depends on broad participation and engagement by many types of landowners. But have we been doing a good job of engaging landowners? In this panel session, we’ll explore what it takes to engage landowners effectively and discuss the specific situtions of those involved in forestry, ranching, and a suburben PES project.

Panelists:

Rod Ginter, Cardno-JFNew: Ginter is an aquatic biologist and project manager with JFNew with 5 years of experience in natural resource consulting. Rod’s core areas of knowledge includes stream diagnostic and design work, wetland impact assessment, as well as design and implementation of aquatic restoration and alternative stormwater BMP projects. Based in Cardno-JFNew’s Northern Indiana office, Rod is responsible for wetland and stream assessments, management of green infrastructure projects, and Clean Water Act permit applications. Rod holds a Bachelor of Science in Biology and Animal Behavior from Indiana University and has completed graduate coursework in Aquatics and Conservation Biology at Indiana University.

Tracy Schohr, California Rangeland Conservation Coalition and California Cattlemen’s Association :Tracy Schohr is the Director of Rangeland Conservation for the California Cattlemen’s Association where she coordinates the California Rangeland Conservation Coalition, a partnership of ranchers, environmentalist, researchers and local, state, and federal government entities. She graduated cum laude from California State University, Chico with a Bachelor of Science degree in agriculture business. Schohr lives in Gridley, CA where she is actively engaged in her families farming and ranching operation.

Douglas Duren, WI Forestland Owner: Douglas Duren is a Wisconsin farm and woodland owner and manager. Duren is part owner and managing partner of his family farm of 400 acres in Richland County, WI, and owns and manages an additional30 acres in Sauk County. With over 25 years of background in the Green Industry, he established Lone Oak Interests, LLC in 2007, a site and land management business in which he works with landowners in both rural and urban settings to plan and implement stewardship practices on their properties.

Duren is a member of the Wisconsin Woodland Owners Association, Wisconsin Family Forests, Kickapoo Woods Cooperative, American Forest Foundation, Aldo Leopold Foundation; additionally, he is a graduate of Master Woodland Stewards, Woodland Leadership Institute, and UW Extension Coverts. He is a Woodland Advocate Program volunteer where he introduces private landowners to the possibilities of land management and the resources available. Duren lives in Madison, WI with his wife Trisha and daughter Eleanor.

Moderated by Sarah Hines, USDA Forest Service:Hines is an Ecosystem Services Specialist with Northeastern Area State & Private Forestry and the Northern Research Station branches of the USDA Forest Service. Sarah earned an A.B. in biological anthropology from Harvard University and an MBA and MS (in environmental policy) from the University of Michigan. In her current position, she has focused on issues related to climate change mitigation and adaptation, the financial viability of private forestland ownership, and the potential for private landowners to engage in emerging carbon and other ecosystem service markets.

Breakout 2D: Protecting Source Water With A PWS Approach: What’s Working, Why It’s Working, And How Can We Clone It?

Abstract:

What makes a water market work? Many factors contribute, from technical to emotional. Threat always helps, whether it is the prospect of reduced water quantity or quality or the need for an expensive new treatment facility. Community interest in preserving rural lifestyles can motivate consumers to pay for watershed protection. Independent water boards that are buffered from the short-term whims of political opinion don’t hurt, either. In this session, we’ll examine some of the traits shared by water markets that are working and examine ways we can replicate these successes. We’ll also seek to better understand the challenges that some communities face in creating effective markets to protect source water. We’ll continue discussions from this panel on the 30th as part of the informal networking session.

Panelists:

Steven Parrett, Sand County Foundation,Director, Water As A Crop Initiative: Steven Parrett is a native Oregonian with an affinity for Aldo Leopold’s land ethic. Steven helped the Oregon Water Trust for 9 years by developing and executing dozens of effective environmental water transactions. He has been instrumental in developing innovative payment for ecosystem service programs including Bonneville Environmental Foundation’s Water Restoration Certificates, the Enhanced-CREP and VEGBACC programs of Clean Water Services and the Farms to Forests program in Southern Oregon. Steven is the director of Sand County Foundation’s new Water As A Crop(TM) initiative to enhance water quality, quantity and reliability by conserving water where it falls.

John Gunn, Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences, PhD, Senior Program Leader: John has a BS in Wildlife Management from the University of Maine and an MFS from the Yale School of Forestry. He completed a PhD in Biology from the University of New Brunswick studying the landscape ecology of songbirds in managed forests. He has a broad background in sustainable forestry including extensive work on family forest and group certification issues throughout North America. John’s current work at Manomet includes developing the science and tools necessary for a forest carbon and drinking water ecosystem services marketplace.

Carrie Raber, Stearns County Soil and Water Conservation District, Urban Conservationist, Minnesota: Carrie helps communities address natural resource concerns and assists with the implementation of their Source Water Protection Plans. As a member of the Conservation Marketplace of Minnesota, she is working to bring environmental markets to the upper Midwest. Carrie obtained a B.S. in Environmental Geology and Technologies from the University of North Dakota.

Cary McElhinney, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Water Division,WaterSense Coordinator: Cary McElhinney currently serves as the WaterSense Coordinator in the Water Division at US EPA’s Region 5 Office in Chicago, IL. For the past 5 years he has helped coordinate program implementation and information management under both Safe Drinking Water Act and Clean Water Act priorities. Previously, Cary was at US EPA Headquarters in Washington, DC where he was a project manager for Office of Water information reporting systems. Cary received his B.S. in Geology from the University of Dayton and his M.S. in Earth Sciences from North Carolina State University.

Tracy Stanton, Program Manager, Ecosystem Marketplace – Water: Tracy leads the work on expanding coverage of issues related to payments for watershed services and other markets-based mechanisms for water-related ecosystem services for Ecosystem Marketplace and Forest Trends. Tracy was lead author of the foundational report, State of Watershed Payments: An Emerging Marketplace, published in June 2010, which served to quantify global investment in payment for watershed services. Prior to joining Forest Trends, Tracy worked as a consultant for the National Academy of Public Administration where she collaborated on an assessment of US EPA’s delivery of environmental services using the Chesapeake Bay watershed as a learning platform. She holds a Master in Public and Environmental Policy from the University of Maryland and a BA from The Ohio State University.

Peter Stangel, Senior Vice President, U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities: Peter has responsibility for a number of programs, including the National Conservation Easement Database, the Partnership for Southern Forestland Conservation, and Healthy Watersheds Through Healthy Forests. He is helping the Endowment investigate ways to help “mainstream” water as a forest ecosystem service market by better understanding what makes projects successful and then using this information to create new successes. Peter has a B.S. in Biology from Furman University and a Ph.D. in Ecology from the University of Georgia.

Breakout 3A: Ethical Issues and Concerns with Ecosystem Markets

Abstract:

For many, there is growing interest in the use of environmental markets as a tool to help meet conservation goals. However, others remain skeptical, even critical of market-based approaches for a wide variety of reasons. Some are skeptical for purely practical reasons, but others have concerns about the ethical implications markets have on conservation. Some say that markets ignore the rights of indigenous people. Others think that markets undermine important conservation values.

What would Aldo Leopold think of Environmental Markets? Holding the Ecosystem Markets Conference in Madison gives us a unique opportunity to explore this question, and give conference participants a chance to hear from Aldo’s biographer, Curt Meine, what Leopold’s thoughts were about the intersection of ecology and economy.

Following Curt’s presentation and discussion, we will transition our discussion into the contemporary. Our goal with this part of the session is to understand what the critics of markets are saying and how to directly address their concerns.

Panelists:

Curt Meine, The Aldo Leopold Foundation:

Sally Collins, Rights and Resources Initiative Fellow, Former Director of the USDA Office of Environmental Markets and member of the American Forest Foundation Board of Trustees: Sally Collins is a Fellow for Rights and Resources Initiative, where she co-chairs Megaflorestais, an effort to bring the leaders of forest agencies from around the world together to discuss the issues facing the world’s forests. Prior to this, she served as the first director for the Office of Environmental Markets in USDA, the Associate Chief of the US Forest Service, Forest Supervisor of Deschutes National Forest, and numerous other positions with the USDA and DOI. Sally also serves on the American Forest Foundation Board of Trustees.

It is timely to take stock of the nature and objectives of private financial resources that have been mobilized to invest in ecosystem services. The panel will present an overview of various business models and what the kind of investors that have been attracted to these models. What are the issues and concerns from investors? What lessons can be learned from the wetlands mitigation sector and the carbon trading markets? What is the outlook for species, nutrient trading and other emerging markets and ecological functions? What happens next?

Panelists:

Adam Davis, Solano Partners Inc, Ecosystem Investment Partners: Adam is a Partner and Director of Research, Policy & New Markets for Ecosystem Investment Partners (EIP), a private equity fund manager that acquires and manages high priority conservation properties across the United States. EIP delivers competitive returns to its investors through the use of new, market-based mechanisms that reward landowners for the restoration and protection of their natural resources (such as wetlands, streams and endangered species), as well as the sustainable use of more traditional resources (such as forestry and agriculture). Adam also serves as the President of Solano Partners, Inc., a consulting firm focused on environmental investment and conservation finance issues.

David Festa, Environmental Defense Fund: Festa is Vice President of west coast operations, as well as the national Land, Water and Wildlife Program at Environmental Defense Fund. In those dual capacities, David leads about 100 EDF employees—including scientists, economists and lawyers—to create transformational solutions to the most serious environmental problems. David joined EDF in 2003 to lead the Oceans Program. He took over as West Coast Vice President in 2007 and has led the Land, Water and Wildlife Program since 2010. David has led his teams to sustained growth—including a nearly 10-fold growth for the Oceans Program alone—by achieving significant, measurable improvements in the conservation and economic performance of businesses, and federal and state policies. A key element of his success is working in partnership with natural resource users, businesses and other environmental groups.

David’s 25+-year career includes working as a journalist for The Economist, where he covered business, technology and science, and was nominated for the Glaxo Award for Science Journalism. He has been a management consultant, analyst for the U.S. Congress Office of Technology Assessment, and Deputy Director of the Center for Clean Air Policy in Washington, DC. David holds a B.A. from the University of Virginia, and a Masters in Public Policy from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.

Dan Spethmann, Working Lands, LLC: Dan is a founding member and managing partner of Working Lands Investment Partners, LLC. He has more than 30 years of experience in natural resource management. Previously Dan was Manager of Investment Programs for New Forests, Inc. where he helped to raise and place institutional and private capital into ecosystem markets. Prior to this, he participated in the Non Timber Resources Development effort at Temple-Inland, Inc. where he worked to develop stream and wetlands mitigation instruments, working forest conservation easements, and endangered species credit programs. He was Founder and President of Strategic Controls Corporation which provided supervisory control and data acquisition systems for the natural gas industry. He also served as Project Manager at Moncon, Inc. where he provided controls systems for hydroelectric facilities as well as the municipal water and wastewater industries.

Dan is completing Doctoral research at Georgetown University this year. The focus is on the ethical stewardship of natural resources developing a balance of methods to capture the range of guiding values from anthropocentric to existential, from the perspective of current and future generations. The intent is for this work to help guide environmental stewardship policy development and implementation.

He holds a Ph.D. in Forest Economics from Stephen F. Austin State University, an MS in Forestry from the University of Wisconsin Madison, and a BS in Biology from the University of Wisconsin. He is an adjunct faculty member at Stephen F. Austin State University.

David Tepper, Forest Trends: David Tepper is one of the leading investors in the carbon markets and has been involved in carbon reduction strategies and sustainable land managment strategies since 1999.. He was responsible for the carbon finance team that managed over $1billion for Climate Change Capital from 2005 to 2007 and during that time invested over $800m in carbon reduction projects in the emerging markets.. Over the last few years he has been focused on using carbon finance to accelerate land restoration, conservation and sustainable land use around the world. He is a member of the Executive management team for Forest Trends www.forest-trends.org , a Washington DC based NGO focused on using market mechanisms and payment for ecosystem services to finance sustainable land use. David is an expert on structuring private sector finance with emerging climate change regulatory and voluntary markets. He advices Governments, multi-laterals project developers and private investors on the design of terrestrial carbon finance opportunities. David is developing public private sector mechanisms and financial architecture in the emerging REDD markets. David is also the Managing Partner of The Earth Partners www.theearthpartners.com , a North American based land restoration developer of degraded lands and bioenergy supplier, utilizing traditional conservation finance and agricultural and forestry models with emerging bio-energy crops and payment for ecosystem services. The Earth Partners has developed a soil quantification methodology and has been testing the method and its applications on low carbon farming and land restoration projects at the landscape level on a number of projects around the world.

David has an experienced investment and corporate business background. David has successfully built and restructured portfolio businesses. He restructured and sold a portfolio of ten operating businesses throughout Europe, North America and China as Executive Chairman of Consodata Group. He was also head of Corporate Development for a leading Italian Internet Company, Kataweb, where he negotiated and managed seven acquisitions and joint ventures and helped sell 5% of the company for €100 million. David started his career at Merrill Lynch where he spent twelve years working on corporate finance, and acquisition transactions in Europe and the US and structured over $15 billion of financial transactions.

Between 1989 and 1993, Pat was U.S. Executive Director of the World Bank. He has had stints as Chief Financial Officer at such diverse companies as a billion dollar financial services company as well as a start-up rocket development enterprise. Pat is a senior fellow at Conservation International, and serves on the Investment Committee of Conservation International’s biodiversity investment fund Verde Ventures. In 1994, Pat co-founded the Northern Virginia Conservation Trust, an accredited land trust. Pat has sought to bring private capital to land conservation for over a decade. He was a contributor to From Walden to Wall Street and has been on the faculty of the Yale Summer Camp for Conservation Finance.

His investment banking career has involved clients have ranged from major corporations to governments. He is a graduate of Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Harvard Business School. Pat resides in Washington, DC.

Radical changes are necessary if the national stormwater program is to improve the quality of the nation’s waters, according to a 2008 report by the National Research Council. The Clean Water Act requirement that Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) permits “require controls to reduce the discharge of pollutants to the maximum extent practicable…” causes local governments to implement expensive practices that deliver uncertain water quality benefits. A shift from implementing practices to measuring performance might improve the current situation. In particular, a focus on performance could motivate MS4s to seek ecosystem services that 1) improve water quality at a lower cost compared to traditional compliance options, 2) value green infrastructure that provides ancillary benefits (e.g., wildlife habitat, recreation, aesthetic views) over gray infrastructure, and 3) deliver pollutant reductions that can be calculated easily, compared to the unclear accountability of common stormwater management practices. Distinguished panelists from consulting firms, NGOs, local governments, and academic institutions will discuss MS4 performance measurement and ecosystem services.

Panelists:

Chad Praul, Environmental Incentives, LLC Chad Praul’s career is focused on combining technical analysis tools with clear communication approaches to promote conservation and wise use of environmental and economic resources. His broad engineering background allows him to rapidly assess available data and succinctly display key findings. His economic education and management experience have honed his capability to lead project teams, and facilitate effective communication with public, management and technical audiences. Chad is a professional engineer with educational experience that includes a degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California at Berkeley and a degree in Resource Economics from the University of California at Santa Cruz.

Chad was a founding partner of Environmental Incentives, LLC in 2006. This company explores innovative mechanisms such as incentive-based policies and incorporation of ecosystem service values into economic markets to enhance decisionmakers’ understanding of best outcomes. Highlights of Chad’s recent accomplishments include (1) support of urban jurisdictions as they beta test performance-based, stormwater accounting regulation, (2) development of performance measures to track the restoration activities of several environmental restoration programs and (3) development of environmental indicators for a consortium of regulatory agencies.

Cy Jones, World Resources Institute Cy Jones leads the Water Quality Trading Initiative for the Chesapeake Bay watershed. The goal of this initiative is to advance market-based efforts to reduce nutrient pollution impacting the Chesapeake Bay watershed and to promote the development of a framework for interstate nutrient trading.

Prior to joining WRI, Cy had a 24 year career with the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission in Laurel, Maryland, where he managed the regional and regulatory affairs of the water and sewer agency. He spent the intervening two years since retiring from WSSC as a Senior Technologist with the engineering firm of CH2M HILL, where he worked on developing nutrient trading programs in Virginia, Maryland, and North Carolina.

Cy has a BA in Zoology and a MS in Environmental Engineering from the University of Iowa.

Kevin Shafer, Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District: Kevin Shafer became executive director at the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District (MMSD) in March 2002. In his current role as the executive director, he is responsible for the overall management, administration, leadership and direction for MMSD in meeting short- and long-term goals and objectives; coordinates the establishment of strategic goals and objectives and their approval by the Commission; oversees the development of policies and operating plans; and represents MMSD to its customers, bond rating agencies, and the public.

Since becoming executive director, Shafer has worked diligently on MMSD’s $1 billion Overflow Reduction Plan. Mr. Shafer has been instrumental in providing the regional leadership in implementing green infrastructure in MMSD facilities and on private property. This leadership has resulted in a new development approach by the communities and developers in the region.

Shafer received a bachelor’s degree in science and civil engineering with a specialty in water resources from the University of Illinois in 1982, and a master’s in science and civil engineering from the University of Texas in 1988. Shafer received the 2001 Individual Merit Award for Engineer in Government Service from the Wisconsin Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers. In 2007, Shafer received a National Award from Kodak American Greenways for MMSD’s pioneering Greenseams project. He is the past president of the National Association of Clean Water Agencies.

Dr. Nancy Frank: Dr. Frank teaches planning theory and courses in environmental sustainability. Dr. Frank’s areas of interest include policy issues related to water, land use, brownfield redevelopment, green infrastructure, and climate change. She also serves as editor of the newsletter of the American Planning Association – Wisconsin Chapter. She participates in a wide network of organizations related to her research interests, including the Wisconsin Brownfields Study Group (appointed), Center for Resilient Cities, the Energy Center of Wisconsin, and the Southeastern Wisconsin Watersheds Trust, Inc. (Sweet Water). In addition, Dr. Frank is part of a team of faculty and alumni who started a charter high school in 2007. She works with high school students and community organizations to explore and implement community-based sustainability initiatives, such as rain gardens, urban gardens, and aquaponic food production.

Moderated by Evan Branosky, World Resources Institute Evan Branosky is an associate for WRI’s water quality team, which advances market-based mechanisms and other policies to restore surface water quality throughout the world. A major area of work focuses on the Chesapeake Bay and Gulf of Mexico.

At WRI, Evan has authored or co-authored reports on U.S. water infrastructure, water quality trading, the U.S. Farm Bill, and climate change and U.S. agriculture. Recently, he and WRI colleagues assessed MS4, wastewater treatment, and agriculture impacts from nutrient trading provisions of the Chesapeake Clean Water and Ecosystem Restoration Act of 2009 (H.R. 3852/S. 1816). Currently, he is helping to develop trading programs and expand them to sectors beyond agriculture and wastewater. Evan is also working with a cross-WRI team to scope projects on shale gas.

Evan holds a B.S. in agricultural science and certificate in environmental geomatics from Rutgers University and an M.P.P. in environmental policy from the University of Maryland, College Park. His graduate school project focused on the water impacts from hydraulic fracturing in the Marcellus Shale of the U.S. Northeast. Evan was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Haiti and received the FFA American Degree.

Emerging biodiversity markets and existing incentive programs have the potential to make effective contributions to conservation, but we know little about how these programs quantify environmental benefits. Across the country, programs and metrics are being designed and implemented in a somewhat ad hoc manner. There has been little evaluation of the science used in these biodiversity metrics and currently, there are no national standards for developing or using them in voluntary or regulated markets or in payment for ecosystem services schemes.

A recent USDA-funded report examining biodiversity measurement systems around the world has come up with a set of guidelines for metrics including development standards and national level policy options. The panel will discuss how and why different federal, state and private organizations need to integrate planning processes and pool resources in order to come up with a reasonably consistent, standardized and multi-purpose metric system for use in the US.

Panelists:

Sara Vickerman, Defenders of Wildlife: Sara is the senior director for biodiversity partnerships for Defenders of Wildlife, and director of the Northwest office. She serves on the Oregon Sustainability Board, American Forest Foundation and Willamette Partnership Boards, and advisory committees for the Doris Duke Foundation, Oregon Institute for Natural Resources, and Oregon Solutions. She successfully promoted conservation incentives and sustainability legislation in Oregon, and bills that encourage state agencies and local governments to use markets and payments for ecosystem services. She is also involved in developing recommendations for policy changes at the federal level and is working on metrics for habitat and biodiversity.

Wayne White, Wildlands, Inc

Paul Souza, US Fish and Wildlife Service

Peter Hoar, Marstel-Day

Nicole Maness, Oregon State University

Breakout 4A: Green Economy: How Can Ecosystem Service Markets Play A Role?

Abstract:

Green Economy is one of the two major themes of the upcoming 2012 UN Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro (Rio +20). While there remains no universally accepted definition, the Green Economy can be viewed as a pathway to sustainable development—one that corrects the market and institutional failures of the prevailing economic development model that have directly and indirectly contributed to global problems of pollution, climate change, resource depletion, inequality, poverty and economic instability. These market and institutional failures take many forms and include externalities, under-provision of public goods, missing markets, asymmetrical information, inequitable access and governance over natural resources, competitive barriers, and inadequate progress indicators. Through a range of economic and other policy choices that can correct these failures, the Green Economy holds promise as a more effective vehicle for advancing sustainable development goals than the prevailing economic development model.

Corrective measures or opportunities take many forms and present a range of options for transforming economies from “brown” to “green.” Examples include efficient pricing that considers all social and environmental costs, sustained investment in human, built, natural and social capital to reverse problems associated with the under-provision of public goods and subsidies and procurement policies to diversify and decrease vulnerability of local economies. Payments and markets for ecosystem services are others, and one of the promises of Rio +20 is better international coordination and financing for these strategies and integration into the programs of U.N. affiliates and national governments alike. The panel will explore the following questions:

What is the Green Economy and what are its implications for ecosystem markets both internationally and in the U.S.?

What key outcomes can be expected from Rio +20?

What outcomes will be most effective in scaling up ecosystem markets?

How can those outcomes be influenced between now and June 2012?

Panelists:

John Talberth, World Resources Institute

Krista Singleton, The Nature Conservancy

Moderated by David Steuerman, Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity

Energy was one of the original ecosystem services people derived from forests. As markets for biomass expand important questions about the tradeoffs between this ecosystem service and others have come into focus. This panel discussion will review several tradeoffs and synergies between biomass feedstock production and subsequent utilization in bioenergy systems and the proliferation of other ecosystem services. The panel will seek to clarify/summarize major areas of contention regarding the biophysical effects (e.g., carbon time balance, nutrient cycling, biodiversity) of forest biomass feedstock production and utilization in bioenergy systems. Panelists will use examples from their research to illustrate changes in ecosystem services (both positive and negative) associated with biomass harvesting and bioenergy production. The panel will address the follow questions: (1) what are appropriate Life Cycle Assessment boundaries and methodologies to assess the time value of CO2e in bioenergy systems?, (2) what are the impacts of biomass harvesting/production regimes on nutrient cycling and forest productivity, biodiversity, and water quality?, (3) how can ecosystem services valuation methodology/tools be used to assess bioenergy systems and help people weigh the tradeoffs?, (4) what is the role of policy in orienting biomass markets toward balancing tradeoffs in ecosystem services and yielding net benefits for society?

Panelists:

John Gunn, Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences: John has a BS in Wildlife Management from the University of Maine and an MFS from the Yale School of Forestry. He completed a PhD in Biology from the University of New Brunswick studying the landscape ecology of songbirds in managed forests. He has a broad background in sustainable forestry including extensive work on family forest and group certification issues throughout North America. John’s current work at Manomet includes developing the science and tools necessary for a forest carbon and drinking water ecosystem services marketplace.

Tom Gower, University of Wisconsin: Dr. Stith T. Gower is presently a Professor of Forest Ecosystem Ecology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Tom received his B.S. in Biology from Furman University, M.S. in Forest Ecology and Soil Science from North Carolina State University, and Ph.D in Forest Ecology from the University of Washington. He has spent his entire career studying carbon and nitrogen cycling in terrestrial ecosystems. His interests include the effects of disturbance and climate change on terrestrial carbon budgets. In recent years his group has coupled biological and industrial ecosystem carbon models to quantify the carbon budgets of forest systems, and is in the process of developing a web-based decision support tool to quantify the effects of harvest and residue removal scenarios on forest ecosystem goods and services. In his spare time he is restoring prairies, oak savannas, and stream ecosystems on his farm in southwestern Wisconsin.

Timothy Robards, Spatial Informatics Group: Dr. Timothy Robards has worked as a forest growth scientist, forest practices regulator, multi-disciplinary research manager and forest-climate change mitigation and adaptation researcher. Dr. Robards is a California Registered Professional Forester with the State of California and a Certified Forester ® with the Society of American Foresters. As a graduate of Purdue University, he received a BSF in Forestry with an emphasis in Forest Management and Soil Science. He received a MS and Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley while studying Forest Biometrics. Dr. Robards has over 20 years’ experience developing statistical models of forest growth and mortality, having recently developed climate-sensitive tree diameter and height growth models for six Sierra Nevada conifer species. As the first Sustained Yield Forester for the State of California, Dr. Robards was the project manager for the first Sustained Yield Plan submitted under California’s new regulations in 1996. Dr. Robards served for 8 years as the Research Manager for the Demonstration State Forests, developing research infrastructure and managing a competitive grants program. He was the quantitative committee lead for the Climate Action Reserve (CAR) forestry protocol workgroup that assisted in the development of version 3 of those protocols. He has also been active in the development of forest carbon offsets under a number cap and trade programs. As part of the 2010 statewide assessment, Dr. Robards has completed an analysis of forest carbon storage and sequestration covering over 30 million acres. As a forester, Dr. Robards has also been a wildland firefighter with experience in plans and situation units, including managing structure damage assessments on large fires.

Jesse Caputo, State University of New York Environmental Science and Forestry: Jesse Caputo is a graduate student at SUNY-ESF, studying the effects of biomass harvesting in forested systems on the provision of ecosystem services over time. Prior to beginning his current program in 2009, Jesse spent two years at the Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI), a Washington, D.C. think tank specializing in climate change, renewable energy, and sustainable development. As a Policy Associate in EESI’s Sustainable Biomass and Energy Program, he worked closely with a number of stakeholder organizations to help the Congress develop innovative policies incorporating forest management and bioenergy as important elements in an effective U.S. climate change strategy. Jesse holds a B.S. in Natural Resources Management from the University of Connecticut and a M.S. in Forest Resources from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Moderated by Brian Kittler, Pinchot Institute for Conservation:Brian’s work at the Institute is primarily focused on forest bioenergy, ecosystem services, federal land management issues, and community-based natural resource management. Brian’s work on bioenergy has examined the extent to which various approaches to wood-biomass utilization can support renewable energy development, sustainable natural resource-based communities, and the improved management and conservation of forest resources. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Policy from Colby College and a Master of Science in Environmental Management from the Johns Hopkins University.

Breakout 4C: Mitigation And Commercial Timberland

Abstract:

There is a significant overlap between ecosystem services and the commercial timberland asset class but there have been relatively few transactions. The panel will present a range of viewpoints about private and public equity and how mitigation and ecosystem services fit into the investment profile of large landowners. Who is doing what in the space, and what are the major challenges to ESP deals? Where do large landowners feel the biggest opportunities lie?

Panelists:

Russell Hatcher, Wells Timberland: Russell Hatcher is the Director of Business Development with Wells Timberland in Norcross, GA. Wells Timberland is a timber investment management organization (TIMO) that manages a timberland investment of over 300,000 acres of privately owned timberland in Georgia and Alabama.

Having been associated with various aspects of timber, timberland, forest products, and forest by-products for over 24 years, Russell has acquired a unique and diverse background for assessing the integration of ecosystem markets into commercial timberland. Prior to joining Wells Timberland, Russell worked with a renewable energy company in the Western U.S. focused on biomass generation. The biomass feedstock was mainly removed from federal lands, which resulted in a fire hazard reduction treatment or other ecological benefits. For over 15 years, Russell worked with a Fortune 100 forest products company and is well-versed on timber markets, timberland management, and forest economics.

Russell is a graduate forester and a member of the Society of American Foresters, the national organization representing the forestry profession in the United States. Additionally, Russell has served as a member of the State Implementation Committee for Sustainable Forest Initiative in Louisiana and on the Louisiana Forestry Association board of directors.

Other areas in which Russell possesses analytical and management skills are forest resource analysis, forest sustainability, harvest and production of wood supply, supply chain logistics for wood, logistical optimization, biomass fuel quality, biomass markets, and forest carbon off-sets. Work experience with timberland and in the forest products industry has contributed to Russell’s perspective that “working” forests can play a significant role in continuing to provide many of the ecosystem goods and services of the future.

Russell holds a B.S. in Forestry from Louisiana Tech University and an M.B.A. in Forest Industries Management from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

Robert Olszewski, Vice President, Environment, Plum Creek

Kaarsten Turner Dalby, Forestland Group

Stephanie Gripne, University of Colorado, Leeds Business School

Moderated by Kent Gilges, Conservation Forestry, LLC

Breakout 4D: Credit Lifecycle Stages and Available Tools

Abstract:

The panel will discuss the different life cycle stages of an ecosystem services credit and the current suite of tools available to facilitate the process from credit creation to the sales transaction. This panel will be a prelude to World Café – Lifecycle of a Credit where several of the tools to be discussed will be demonstrated. Key topics that will be addressed include:

Current tools and their role in credit development

Evolution of these tools in past year and any new tools

Gaps that may be best served by these or other tools

Needs from users (landowners, regulators, demand-side, etc.)

Standardization and Integration – how existing tools are/can be standardized for efficiency and cost management

Usage – real-world examples from users

Panelists:

Kevin Halsey, Parametrix:Kevin is the co-lead for the Parametrix’ Ecosystem Services Group. In this role, Kevin oversees development of the ecosystem services decision support tools developed by Parametrix. In addition to his responsibilities at Parametrix, Kevin is currently an adjunct professor at Lewis and Clark Northwestern School of Law, where he teaches a course on identifying and managing environmental risk in business transactions. Kevin also teaches courses on ecosystem services and land use for the University of Oregon’s Sustainability Leadership Program.

James R. Remuzzi, Sustainable Solutions, LLC:Sustainable Solutions provides natural resource consulting and contracting services to private landowners, land trusts, forestry associations, NGO’s, investors, and State and Federal agencies. James’ current work includes developing an ecosystem marketplace for the Chesapeake Bay (www.thebaybank.org), building an ecosystem service assessment tool for private landowners (www.landserver.org), developing a Ecosystem crediting platform for project developers, working with an ecosystem investment group to restore large wetland complexes in Delaware and Virginia, and planning and implementing prescribed fire operations for private landowners. James is a certified burn boss in Maryland and Virginia, a member of the International Association for Wildland Fire, the Nature Conservancy, and the Forest Resources Association.

David Primozich, The Freshwater Trust:David has a decade of experience helping people make decisions about management and use of natural resources. Previously, David served as Executive Director of the Willamette Partnership, and helped secure agreement on the measurement systems and infrastructure around ecosystem services. He also developed and implemented new approaches to engage private landowners in policy making that effects their land; managed production of technical strategies to guide fish and wildlife conservation investment; and, managed comprehensive planning for Parks and Open Space in Oregon. David has earned undergraduate degrees in Applied Science –Agriculture from Clark College, Anthropology at University of Oregon, and a master’s degree in Applied Anthropology at Oregon State University.

David R. Smith, The Other Firm, LLC:David is primarily responsible for client relationships, management and growth of conservation and environment-focused efforts for The Other Firm, a leading online solution development service provider. Previously, David was an executive in the customer care industry and owned and operated an environmental consulting firm in Oregon. The Other Firm specializes in the design, development and management of results-driven, user-centric web resources and has produced several well-regarded applications including The Conservation Registry, LandServer, The Bay Bank and the Ecosystem Crediting Platform. David holds a B.S. in Wildlife Management from University of Wisconsin and an M.S. in Wildlife Ecology from Mississippi State.

Magdalena Pampillo, Market Environmental Registry: Magdalena Pampillo is the Assistant Vice President of the Markit Environmental Registry team where she plays a key operational role in supporting the implementation of new water and biodiversity standards into the Markit Registry. Markit’s global environmental business is dedicated to supporting new environmental markets with quality financial markets-based infrastructure designed specifically to deliver maximum flexibility, transparency and efficiency for these markets.

Magdalena is a qualified Environmental Engineer with experience in the oil, gas and steel industries having worked with Argentina’s main industrial conglomerate the Techint Group. Magdalena has also worked at Evolution Markets and now in her role at Markit she works closely with project developers, regulators and corporate in carbon, water and biodiversity markets. Magdalena is fluent in Spanish, English and Portuguese.

Moderated by Bobby Cochran, Willamette Partnership:Bobby Cochran is the Executive Director for the Willamette Partnership, a nonprofit coalition of business, environmental, and other leaders working to enhance the pace, scope, and effectiveness of restoration in the Northwest. It specializes in the design and operation of emerging markets for ecosystem services. Bobby has worked on market-based policies for environmental organizations, a water utility, and international efforts. He received a Ph.D./M.A. in Urban Studies/Conflict Resolution from Portland State University, and his Masters in Public Policy from the University of Southern California.

World Café Lifecycle of a Credit

LandServer

Abstract:

LandServer (www.landserver.org) is a web based mapping tool that provides private landowners with a quick and easy evaluation of their property’s eligibility for ecosystem markets and traditional conservation programs. By simply entering their address and drawing a property boundary on the web-based map, LandServer produces a customized report that contains information on the landowner’s property, and their conservation program and ecosystem market opportunities.

LandServer’s custom database contains publicly available geospatial information and specially developed models that translate complex conservation program and market requirements into easy to read report outputs. The database can be easily updated as more, or revised data becomes available.

LandServer is currently live in Maryland and Delaware, with plans to expand to the remaining Chesapeake Bay States in 2011.

The demonstration will include:

An introduction to LandServer

Discussion of the data sets

Selecting a parcel or drawing a parcel boundary

How to run a parcel report

Report highlights

How to get LandServer to your State or Region.

Presenter:

James R. Remuzzi, Sustainable Solutions, LLC: Sustainable Solutions provides natural resource consulting and contracting services to private landowners, land trusts, forestry associations, NGO’s, investors, and State and Federal agencies. James’ current work includes developing an ecosystem marketplace for the Chesapeake Bay (www.thebaybank.org), building an ecosystem service assessment tool for private landowners (www.landserver.org), developing a Ecosystem crediting platform for project developers, working with an ecosystem investment group to restore large wetland complexes in Delaware and Virginia, and planning and implementing prescribed fire operations for private landowners. James is a certified burn boss in Maryland and Virginia, a member of the International Association for Wildland Fire, the Nature Conservancy, and the Forest Resources Association.

The tool is intended to provide a first estimation of carbon market opportunities and the ability to test alternate scenarios to determine the conditions where future market entry may be possible. A landowner or forest manager is walked through a series of questions about a forest property and carbon project to determine eligibility, costs, and potential benefits under the current carbon standards and protocols (Climate Action Reserve, American Carbon Registry, and Voluntary Carbon Standard). Summary pro forma analytics are provided for multiple scenarios to allow the user to evaluate options within and across carbon registries. The tool resides in a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet but will eventually be migrated to a web-based interactive platform.

Presenter:

David Saah, Spatial Informatics Group, LLC

John Gunn, Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences: John has a BS in Wildlife Management from the University of Maine and an MFS from the Yale School of Forestry. He completed a PhD in Biology from the University of New Brunswick studying the landscape ecology of songbirds in managed forests. He has a broad background in sustainable forestry including extensive work on family forest and group certification issues throughout North America. John’s current work at Manomet includes developing the science and tools necessary for a forest carbon and drinking water ecosystem services marketplace.

Tim Robards, Spatial Informatics Group, LLC: Dr. Timothy Robards has worked as a forest growth scientist, forest practices regulator, multi-disciplinary research manager and forest-climate change mitigation and adaptation researcher. Dr. Robards is a California Registered Professional Forester with the State of California and a Certified Forester ® with the Society of American Foresters. As a graduate of Purdue University, he received a BSF in Forestry with an emphasis in Forest Management and Soil Science. He received a MS and Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley while studying Forest Biometrics. Dr. Robards has over 20 years’ experience developing statistical models of forest growth and mortality, having recently developed climate-sensitive tree diameter and height growth models for six Sierra Nevada conifer species. As the first Sustained Yield Forester for the State of California, Dr. Robards was the project manager for the first Sustained Yield Plan submitted under California’s new regulations in 1996. Dr. Robards served for 8 years as the Research Manager for the Demonstration State Forests, developing research infrastructure and managing a competitive grants program. He was the quantitative committee lead for the Climate Action Reserve (CAR) forestry protocol workgroup that assisted in the development of version 3 of those protocols. He has also been active in the development of forest carbon offsets under a number cap and trade programs. As part of the 2010 statewide assessment, Dr. Robards has completed an analysis of forest carbon storage and sequestration covering over 30 million acres. As a forester, Dr. Robards has also been a wildland firefighter with experience in plans and situation units, including managing structure damage assessments on large fires.

Ecosystem Crediting Platform

Abstract:

The Willamette Partnership (www.willamettepartnership.ecosystemcredits.org) and the Pinchot Institute’s Bay Bank (www.baybank.ecosystemcredits.org) co-developed the recently-released Ecosystem Credit Platform (ECP). This web-based software application leads conservation project developers step-by-step through the credit creation process – including required phases and protocols for assessing existing conditions, estimating the benefits of different restoration alternatives, quantifying these benefits as credits, verification, agency approval and tracking over time. The end products of the ECP are certified ecosystem service credits that may then be listed on a registry. The ECP is a flexible platform that can be customized to the unique needs of other programs or regions providing credit development standardization, cost-savings and rapid deployment via a shared resource.

Presenter:

David Smith, The Other Firm, LLC: David is primarily responsible for client relationships, management and growth of conservation and environment-focused efforts for The Other Firm, a leading online solution development service provider. Previously, David was an executive in the customer care industry and owned and operated an environmental consulting firm in Oregon. The Other Firm specializes in the design, development and management of results-driven, user-centric web resources and has produced several well-regarded applications including The Conservation Registry, LandServer, The Bay Bank and the Ecosystem Crediting Platform. David holds a B.S. in Wildlife Management from University of Wisconsin and an M.S. in Wildlife Ecology from Mississippi State.

Bobby Cochran, Willamette Partnership: Bobby Cochran is the Executive Director for the Willamette Partnership, a nonprofit coalition of business, environmental, and other leaders working to enhance the pace, scope, and effectiveness of restoration in the Northwest. It specializes in the design and operation of emerging markets for ecosystem services. Bobby has worked on market-based policies for environmental organizations, a water utility, and international efforts. He received a Ph.D./M.A. in Urban Studies/Conflict Resolution from Portland State University, and his Masters in Public Policy from the University of Southern California.

NutrientNet: a tool for water quality trading

Abstract:

NutrientNet has been developed as the water quality trading tool for states in the Chesapeake Bay, including Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Maryland. The tool includes a marketplace, registry, and administrative tools. In addition, NutrientNet incorporates a calculation tools that allow landowners and farmers to determine their current nutrient loads, determine whether or not they meet baseline requirements as determined by the state, and calculate total credits they can generate through approved best management practices. For the Maryland NutrientNet tool, WRIworked with Tarleton State to incorporate the Nutrient Trading Tool into the agricultural calculations used in Maryland’s NutrientNet. WRI has recently received a CIG grant that will enable us to use the Maryland NutrientNet/NTT hybrid tool as the basis for a single multistate water quality trading platform that will include all of the Chesapeake States. This demonstration will demonstrate the current NutrientNet/NTT tool for Maryland and discuss how this will be applied in a multistate context within the Chesapeake Bay.

Presenter:

Susan Payne, Maryland Department of Agriculture: Susan Payne coordinates the Maryland Department of Agriculture’s overall Ecosystem Markets Program and administers the Maryland Nutrient Trading Program. In addition to working with relevant federal and state agencies and entities, she sits on a number of interagency and regional committees addressing carbon trading, interstate ecosystem markets, climate change, and greenhouse gas reductions. Susan holds both a BA and MS from the University of Pennsylvania, and her credentials include almost 20 years of experience in the securities industry in New York City.

Ali Saleh, Tarleton State University

Michelle Perez, World Resources Institute

BayBank

Abstract:

The Bay Bank (www.thebaybank.org) is an online resource that allows buyerst o view ecosystem credits and/or expressions of interest in generatingcredits that have been posted by landowners and project developers. The Marketplace posts three types of credits:

• Expression of interest – a landowner has expressed interest in generating credits, but is waiting for demand to be established before implementing conservation actions.

• Verified opportunity – a landowner has verified that their site conditions are suitable for credit generation. This includes an assessment that the site meets regulatory requirements to generate credits.

• Certified credit – a landowner has implemented conservation practices according to market protocols and has received confirmation from Bay Bank or regulatory agencies that their credit is eligible for sale.

The Bay Bank also assists users by providing service provider matching tools, general education on ecosystem credits and specific information about conventional conservation cost-share and grant programs.

Presenter:

Ty Montgomery, The Other Firm, LLC: Ty Montgomery, The Other Firm: Ty is primarily responsible for business operations, client relationships and project oversight for The Other Firm, a leading online solution development service provider. Previously, Ty was a marketing executive in the advertising and financial services industries. The Other Firm specializes in the design, development and management of results-driven, user-centric web resources and has produced several well-regarded applications for the conservation and environmental sector including The Conservation Registry, LandServer, The Bay Bank and the Ecosystem Crediting Platform. Clients include Defenders of Wildlife, DJ Case & Associates, The Nature Conservancy, The Pinchot Institute, The Willamette Partnership and USDA.

Markit Registry

Abstract:

The Markit Environmental Registry (www.markit.com) delivers world-leading financial markets-based registry infrastructure to promote transparency, efficiency and confidence in environmental markets. The registry lists carbon, water and biodiversity assets for regulatory and voluntary market-based programs and has customers and users all over the world. The Registry currently holds over 55 million registered environmental assets from a variety of voluntary and compliance environmental market programs. Our objective is to maximize outcomes for the environment, businesses and landholders in environmental markets through utilizing credible market infrastructure. The Markit Environmental Registry offers you maximum flexibility to manage all of your environmental assets in a centralized financial markets registry system. Our solutions provide the tools and workflow that unlock new opportunities and bring confidence to new markets.

Presenter:

Magdalena Pampillo, Markit Environmental Registry: Magdalena Pampillo is the Assistant Vice President of the Markit Environmental Registry team where she plays a key operational role in supporting the implementation of new water and biodiversity standards into the Markit Registry. Markit’s global environmental business is dedicated to supporting new environmental markets with quality financial markets-based infrastructure designed specifically to deliver maximum flexibility, transparency and efficiency for these markets.

Magdalena is a qualified Environmental Engineer with experience in the oil, gas and steel industries having worked with Argentina’s main industrial conglomerate the Techint Group. Magdalena has also worked at Evolution Markets and now in her role at Markit she works closely with project developers, regulators and corporate in carbon, water and biodiversity markets. Magdalena is fluent in Spanish, English and Portuguese.

Water Stewardship, Inc

Abstract:

Water Stewardship Inc provides assessment and verification services in water quality trading markets in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. Though we use tools like Nutrient Net, and our in-house Nutrient Load Estimator, to calculate the number of credits for a specific project, there is significant work to gather the necessary information, conduct site visits and evaluate the most efficient application of BMPs on a property that will earn the most credits. Through an iterative process of evaluating a series of scenarios, site visits and interviews with the landowner and/or farm manager, a project must deliver quality nutrient reduction credits while being sustainable from a farm business and operational perspective. Protocols for credit verification throughout the contract life of a credit will also be discussed.

Presenter:

Daniel Kaiser, the Director of Field and Industry Operations, Water Stewardship, Inc.: Daniel Kaiser leads the coordination of WSI field work as it pertains to farm conservation assessment and ecosystem credit trading projects. Mr. Kaiser joins Water Stewardship Inc. from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, where he worked on agriculture-related water quality issues. Mr. Kaiser worked with an EPA team that led the effort to revise the scientific assessment and management direction of the 2001 Hypoxia Action Plan in support of the state and federal Gulf of Mexico Hypoxia Task Force. For the past two years, Mr. Kaiser worked with the agribusiness sector on a voluntary stewardship program to improve food and beverage processing efficiency as well as the sustainability of the agricultural supply chain. Before joining the EPA, Mr. Kaiser worked at an agricultural land trust and as a consultant to the U.S. Forest Service. Mr. Kaiser received a Masters in Environmental Management with a concentration in natural resource economics and policy from Duke University in 2003.

The Role of Corporations in Ecosystem Services

Abstract:

Are companies a realistic demand-source for PES, and if so, under what circumstances? WRI has been working directly with companies for over 3 years to assess business risks and opportunities related to ecosystem change. In this session, a review of 1-3 corporate ES assessment tools will provide insights to the opportunities and constraints of corporate participation in PES. As it turns out, companies that value ecosystem services are able to be solution providers in PES, as well as a demand source.

Walk through tool(s) (with case studies) that corporations use to determine if/how to engage in PES. Tools might include (tbd):

The Corporate Ecosystem Services Review

Corporate Ecosystem Valuation

Ecosystem Services Benchmark

Presenter:

Suzanne Ozment, World Resources Institute: Suzanne Ozment is Research Analyst for the Business & Ecosystem Services project at the World Resources Institute, focusing on how ecosystem services considerations can improve corporate performance. In this role, she assesses and writes about the business implications of ecosystem change, convenes corporate partners to advance innovative strategies that restore ecosystems, and develops business decision support tools. She also provides outreach through platforms such as the Ecosystem Services Experts Directory and the LinkedIn Business & Ecosystems Professionals Group.

Management systems for ecosystem services (keeping your credit real)

Abstract:

The tools used to calculate credits produce estimates of ecosystem service benefit. The credits are linked to expected improvements to the system, but the assumptions underlying the tools must be tested through monitoring and the tools must be improved over time. However, changing the credit calculator can call into question the real benefits from project that used the old version, which can create uncertainty for buyers and sellers. A formal management system can address these concerns by making routine adjustments on an annual basis, and defining a clear process for adjusting the number of credits from a project over time. This ensures that investors have sufficient certainty and the credit incorporates the best available science and is not attacked for knowingly allowing transactions that do not reflect ecosystem services.

Presenter:

Chad Praul, Environmental Incentives, LLC: Chad Praul’s career is focused on combining technical analysis tools with clear communication approaches to promote conservation and wise use of environmental and economic resources. His broad engineering background allows him to rapidly assess available data and succinctly display key findings. His economic education and management experience have honed his capability to lead project teams, and facilitate effective communication with public, management and technical audiences. Chad is a professional engineer with educational experience that includes a degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California at Berkeley and a degree in Resource Economics from the University of California at Santa Cruz.
Chad was a founding partner of Environmental Incentives, LLC in 2006. This company explores innovative mechanisms such as incentive-based policies and incorporation of ecosystem service values into economic markets to enhance decisionmakers’ understanding of best outcomes. Highlights of Chad’s recent accomplishments include (1) support of urban jurisdictions as they beta test performance-based, stormwater accounting regulation, (2) development of performance measures to track the restoration activities of several environmental restoration programs and (3) development of environmental indicators for a consortium of regulatory agencies.

In 2010, the Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority received a $324k grant from the US Forest Service through the EPA’s Great Lakes Restoration Initiative for the creation of a PES or other innovative community-based solution to help mitigate stormwater runoff and improve nearshore health. Ecological consulting firm JFNew has been working with residents of Valparaiso’s Memorial neighborhood to auction off “green infrastructure” to mitigate stormwater and CSO runoff. In this session, Rod Ginter or JFNew and Sabina Shaikh of RCF Economic & Financial Consulting will share an overview of the auction survey & process, summarize their results to date, and engage discussion about this kind of community-based ecosystem services project.

Presenter:

Rod Ginter, Cardno-JFNew: Rod Ginter of Cardno-JFNew is an aquatic biologist and project manager with JFNew with 5 years of experience in natural resource consulting. Rod’s core areas of knowledge includes stream diagnostic and design work, wetland impact assessment, as well as design and implementation of aquatic restoration and alternative stormwater BMP projects. Based in Cardno-JFNew’s Northern Indiana office, Rod is responsible for wetland and stream assessments, management of green infrastructure projects, and Clean Water Act permit applications. Rod holds a Bachelor of Science in Biology and Animal Behavior from Indiana University and has completed graduate coursework in Aquatics and Conservation Biology at Indiana University.

Sabina Shaikh, RCF Economic & Financial Consulting: Dr. Sabina Shaikh is a Senior Research Economist at RCF Economic and Financial Consulting and a Lecturer and Director of the Environment, Agriculture and Food Group at the University of Chicago. Dr. Shaikh specializes in non-market valuation for environment and natural resources and the development of market-based mechanisms for ecosystem service provision. She recently published an article on the ecosystem services of Illinois wetlands and co-authored a chapter forthcoming in Natural Capital: Theory and Practice of Mapping Ecosystem Services by Oxford Press. Dr. Shaikh has a BA in Economics from the University of Wisconsin and a PhD in Agricultural and Resource Economics from the University of California at Davis.

World Café Other

Klamath River Water Quality Tracking And Accounting Program (TAP)

Abstract:

The Klamath Basin Water Quality Improvement Tracking and Accounting Program (Klamath TAP) is a framework to provide basin stakeholders with an efficient means to increase the pace and reduce the cost of improving Klamath River water quality to support all water-related uses in the Basin. Public and private, regulated and unregulated entities can use the Klamath TAP tools and protocols to identify, prioritize and implement water quality improvement opportunities. The program will provide an accepted unit of environmental benefit that will be used to relate individual actions to improve water quality to basin-wide goals. The program also provides the basis for a water quality trading market to facilitate a higher level of prioritization, activity and collaboration to restore water quality than could be achieved by a regulatory approach targeting individual entities in isolation. The Klamath TAP will initially provide a framework to estimate, track and report water quality eutrophic pollutants and temperature with respect to Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) and other milestones. Over time the Klamath TAP can be expanded to address additional issues, such as water flow and habitat, identified in the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement, biological opinions and other public and private restoration efforts.

Challenges in the basin include developing a basin-wide structure that addresses a wide range of non-point source impairments related to agriculture, timber, fisheries, natural enrichment, legacy impacts, and other factors. These typical factors, coupled with endangered salmon and suckers, water and tribal rights, TMDLs, and the biggest dam removal initiative in the U.S. History, requires a comprehensive framework and a diverse set of tools to address complexity and diversity that would allow a credit market to be successful. The Klamath TAP aims to provide a framework to establish ecosystem service credits and focus resources where they are going to make the most significant progress toward the goal of water quality improvements.

Presenter:

Mike Deas, Watercourse Engineering IncKatie Riley, Environmental Incentives, LLC: Katie Riley is the EI project manager for the Klamath Water Quality Tracking & Accounting Program, which will establish a consist set of credits to target investments in reducing temperature and nutrients in the Klamath River and tributaries. She is also providing guidance to the Environmental Defense Fund, Sierra Nevada Conservancy and Sustainable Conservation to develop an environmental accounting program for the Mokelumne Watershed, which serves as the drinking water supply for the San Francisco Bay Area. The Mokelumne program will support market-based investments in conservation practices that improve water availability, water quality, habitat viability, and carbon sequestration.

Katie holds a MS in Environmental Science and Management from the Bren School at UC – Santa Barbara, where she specialized in environmental economics and policy. Katie completed her master’s thesis quantifying the social and biophysical impacts of ecosystem services in urban environments. Prior to joining EI, Katie worked on sustainable seafood initiatives for Oceana in Washington D.C., and also received an Association of Environmental Professionals Fellowship to work for Ashoka, the global association of the world’s leading social entrepreneurs.

Conservation Marketplace of Minnesota (CMM) is developing an ecosystem services market approach by drawing expertise from locally-led land managers and using standardized tools to provide a simple, yet scientifically rigorous method for credit transactions. CMM is comprised of three pilot watersheds that have a unique diversity in socioeconomic, political, and geomorphologic attributes. Each watershed’s implementation goals are unique and include transactions for surface water quality, wellhead protection, and native habitat. Pilot trades are being conducted to test CMM’s administration and delivery system; feedback will be incorporated into future program design. We will address CMM’s experiences and response to common challenges in ecosystem service markets, such as the use of public funds for credit generation, stacking of ecosystem service payments, performance standards and marketing to buyers. Products of this effort will help facilitate ecosystem service market development across Minnesota and beyond.

Presenter:

Brooke Hacker, Greater Blue Earth River Basin Alliance: Brooke Hacker is an Ecosystem Services Specialist for the Conservation Marketplace of Minnesota project, focusing on the establishment of ecosystem market framework in the Minnesota River Basin. In this role, she is helping to develop an organizational structure to streamline market transactions, materials to reach out to buyers and sellers, and assists with coordinating committee meetings and efforts to bring environmental markets to Minnesota and the upper Midwest. Brooke obtained a B.S. in Forestry from Iowa State University.

Susan Carlin, Minnesota River Board: Susan Carlin is the Program Director for the Minnesota River Board. She coordinates participation among the many partners in Conservation Marketplace of Minnesota. She also participates in and helps lead meetings for the Minnesota River Basin Technical and Policy Committees and the CMM National Advisory Committee. Susan received a B.S. in Environmental Science from the University of Florida.

Pacific Northwest Overview: Scaling Up On A 2-Year Horizon

Abstract:

The Pacific Northwest has been a hotbed of conversation over the last year, with brewing water quality trades, conservations across Washington and Oregon, and some hard thinking about what we need in the next 24 months to make these market-based approaches work. Listen to barriers and opportunities presented from cases across Oregon and Washington with a focus on the strategic actions needed to scale market-based approaches up.

Presenter:

Paul Swedeen, Pacific Forest Trust

Water Quality Markets And The Chesapeake Bay TMDL

Abstract:

The Chesapeake Bay TMDL is unique in its scale and complexity. To achieve water quality standards in the Bay Estuary, the TMDL allocates responsibilities for limiting inputs of point and non-point sources of nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment pollution to the 6 states that comprise the Bay’s 64,000 sq .mi watershed.

Watershed Improvement Plans have been developed by Bay states to provide assurance that pollutant reduction goals will be achieved including the use of water quality credit markets. The purpose of market mechanisms is to expand the options for cost-effective pollution reduction, given that the costs of reducing nutrient and sediment pollution differ between sectors.

Reductions of current pollution will be significant and costly but an important feature of the TMDL is also the requirement that all new or expanding sources of pollution be offset by equal or greater reductions elsewhere. Demand for credits is likely to come from wastewater treatment plants, municipalities with stormwater permits and new land development. As a result, water quality markets are likely to expand in the Bay watershed.

This World Café session will be hosted by federal, state, and private organizations working on markets in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. This session with present the basics of the TMDL, its implications for various sectors, potential barriers to market development and expansion, and discuss some of the new efforts underway to build an effective credit based market system for water quality reductions and offsets .

Presenters:

Daniel Kaiser, the Director of Field and Industry Operations, Water Stewardship, Inc.: Daniel Kaiser leads the coordination of WSI field work as it pertains to farm conservation assessment and ecosystem credit trading projects. Mr. Kaiser joins Water Stewardship Inc. from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, where he worked on agriculture-related water quality issues. Mr. Kaiser worked with an EPA team that led the effort to revise the scientific assessment and management direction of the 2001 Hypoxia Action Plan in support of the state and federal Gulf of Mexico Hypoxia Task Force. For the past two years, Mr. Kaiser worked with the agribusiness sector on a voluntary stewardship program to improve food and beverage processing efficiency as well as the sustainability of the agricultural supply chain. Before joining the EPA, Mr. Kaiser worked at an agricultural land trust and as a consultant to the U.S. Forest Service. Mr. Kaiser received a Masters in Environmental Management with a concentration in natural resource economics and policy from Duke University in 2003.

Amelia Letnes, Environmental Protection Agency: Amelia Letnes has worked in the Water Permits Divison of EPA Headquarters since 2005, and has been the national permitting lead in water quality trading since 2008. In her work at EPA, she has worked on a wide variety of issues related to NPDES permitting, including state oversight and performance, climate change, economic analysis, and integrated permitting. Recently, she has been involved in creating trading and offsets policy in the Chesapeake Bay, as part of their Bay-wide TMDL. She received her BA in international studies, with a focus on global economics from Muhlenberg College and received her MA in Political Science from Lehigh University.

Susan Payne, Maryland Department of Agriculture: Susan Payne coordinates the Maryland Department of Agriculture’s overall Ecosystem Markets Program and administers the Maryland Nutrient Trading Program. In addition to working with relevant federal and state agencies and entities, she sits on a number of interagency and regional committees addressing carbon trading, interstate ecosystem markets, climate change, and greenhouse gas reductions. Susan holds both a BA and MS from the University of Pennsylvania, and her credentials include almost 20 years of experience in the securities industry in New York City.

Kevin DeBell, Environmental Protection Agency: Kevin DeBell is an environmental protection specialist with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Chesapeake Bay Program Office in Annapolis, Maryland. In this capacity, he provides policy analysis to program leadership, leads the program’s budget formulation, participates in major reporting and accountability projects, and covers growth, development, and transportation issues. Kevin currently is part of the program’s nutrient credit trading team and is leading an evaluation of the costs associated with the Chesapeake Bay TMDL. Kevin joined EPA in 2001 and has served in the agency’s Office of Policy, Economics, and Evaluation and Office of Wastewater Management. He previously worked as Manager of Policy Development for the Water Environment Federation. He holds an M.A. in Political Science from Loyola University Chicago and a Ph.D. in Conflict Resolution and Analysis from George Mason University, and is an adjunct faculty member of the University of Baltimore’s Center for Negotiation and Conflict Management.

Moderated by Al Todd, USDA: Al currently serves as the Chesapeake Bay Team Leader for the USDA Office of Environmental Markets. Prior to 2011, Al served for 2 ½ years as Assistant Director for Ecosystem Services and Markets for the Forest Service and 18 years as Northeastern Area Watershed Program Leader where he also managed forestry support to the Chesapeake Bay Program. Al received a BS from Penn State University in Environmental Resources and MS from the University of Arizona in Hydrology. Al has worked for local government, the private sector, and 32 years with USDA and the Forest Service.

Sagebrush: Linking Markets To Landscape-Scale Conservation

Abstract:

Although sagebrush is widely distributed throughout the intermountain west, very little of it is managed for the primary purpose of protecting the native biodiversity within the ecosystem. As a result, the sage grouse, the flagship and keystone species for the ecosystem has been proposed for listing under the Endangered Species Act. Landowners, state and federal resource agencies, local governments, energy development companies and other actors have much to gain by developing and implementing conservation measures that restore the ecosystem and stabilize sage grouse populations to the point that listing is not necessary. The level of federal investment by the Departments of Agriculture and Interior, development pressure, and interest by the conservation community present a rare opportunity to demonstrate how a “pre-compliance” market might work in this ecosystem. The challenges will be to develop widely supported and spatially explicit conservation strategies, to use consistent metrics to measure success, and to align government programs and private investment to expedite transactions and produce tangible ecological results in a reasonable time frame.

Presenter:

Sara Vickerman, Defenders of Wildlife: Sara is the senior director for biodiversity partnerships for Defenders of Wildlife, and director of the Northwest office. She serves on the Oregon Sustainability Board, American Forest Foundation and Willamette Partnership Boards, and advisory committees for the Doris Duke Foundation, Oregon Institute for Natural Resources, and Oregon Solutions. She successfully promoted conservation incentives and sustainability legislation in Oregon, and bills that encourage state agencies and local governments to use markets and payments for ecosystem services. She is also involved in developing recommendations for policy changes at the federal level and is working on metrics for habitat and biodiversity.

Ted Toombs, Environmental Defense Fund

What Is The Role Of Ecosystem Services In Public Lands Management?

Abstract:

Public lands comprise approximately a third of all lands in the United States. Their management is critical to sustaining ecosystem services held in the public trust. While there is debate about whether public lands should engage in ecosystem service markets as sellers of offsets or credits, there is much to be gained by applying ecosystem service concepts to public land stewardship. We will discuss these possibilities, with a focus on the U.S. Forest Service and ecosystem service projects currently underway, including case studies to develop a framework for ecosystem service-based management. We will also engage in dialogue about the role of public lands in piloting and developing ecosystem service metrics in collaboration with non-governmental organizations and will address how these partnerships can leverage opportunities for private landowners who wish to participate in ecosystem service markets, including example pilots in Oregon. The pros and cons of various policy options for increasing greenhouse gas mitigation on public lands will also be discussed, including opportunities for positive co-benefits, like improvements to water quality and habitat. The session with elicit ideas for increasing collaboration among federal, state and local land management agencies as well as private landowners, scientists and non-governmental organizations to sustain ecosystem services at the landscape scale and support the development of markets in the private sector.

Presenter:

Nikola Smith, U.S. Forest Service

Lydia Olander, Duke University: Lydia Olander directs the Nicholas Institute’s program in ecosystem services. Currently she is developing the Institute’s and Duke’s expanding initiative on ecosystem services; coordinating Duke’s Ecosystem Services Working Group; coordinating the development of a National Ecosystem Services Partnership; helping to coordinate the Institute’s programs on land based greenhouse gas mitigation; directing the Technical Working Group on Agricultural Greenhouse Gases. Lydia spent a year as a AAAS Congressional Science and Technology Fellow working with Sen. Joseph Lieberman on environmental and energy issues. Before moving to Washington, D.C., she was a researcher with the Carnegie Institution of Washington’s department of global ecology. She received her doctorate from Stanford University, and a masters in forest science from Yale University.

David Cooley, Duke University

Integrated Land Use Planning

Abstract:

There is general recognition that land use planning processes have a considerable role in determining the composition and condition of the landscape. State and federal environmental laws provide protection for a few specific resources and can certainly effect changes to landscape conditions. But land use planning provides the opportunity to more comprehensively influence the ultimate condition of our landscape.

In spite of the opportunity land use planning has to influence landscape conditions, ecosystem markets have been slow to move into land use planning processes. In part this is because there is not one process to integrate into, but thousands. Market developers have assumed there is a better bang for the buck from targeting a federal regulatory process that will yield nation-wide benefits. However, the reality is that we have been pinning our hopes on regulatory processes that are ultimately leading to a few siloed markets that are not necessarily yielding the ecological or social outcomes that market developers are seeking.

Accordingly, there is increasingly a focus on the role ecosystem services and markets can play in improving land use planning processes. In truth, this movement is both bottom-up and top-down. Market advocates are increasingly recognizing the opportunities land use planning processes can provide for achieving more comprehensive landscape improvement. Meanwhile land use planners are gaining exposure to ecosystem service concepts, and are increasingly considering how those concepts can improve land use planning outcomes.

This session will elicite discussion on the evolution of ecosystem services and market concepts into land use planning from a variety of perspectives. Kevin Halsey will moderate the panel, which will use a discussion format. The panel will be comprised of the following people:

Presenter:

Tracy Stanton, Forest Trends/Ecosystem Marketplace: Tracy Stanton, Ecosystems Marketplace: Stanton leads the work on expanding coverage of issues related to payments for watershed services and other markets-based mechanisms for water-related ecosystem services for Ecosystem Marketplace and Forest Trends. Tracy was lead author of the foundational report, State of Watershed Payments: An Emerging Marketplace, published in June 2010, which served to quantify global investment in payment for watershed services. Prior to joining Forest Trends, Tracy worked as a consultant for the National Academy of Public Administration where she collaborated on an assessment of US EPA’s delivery of environmental services using the Chesapeake Bay watershed as a learning platform. She holds a Master in Public and Environmental Policy from the University of Maryland and a BA from The Ohio State University.

Bill Whitney, Washoe County Nevada Planning Department

Jason Franklin, Parametrix

Dale Lyons, City of Santa Fe

The Value of Clean Water: Optimizing Green and Grey Infrastructure in Forested Watersheds

Abstract:

The management of natural, forested watersheds can improve the quality of drinking water and significantly reduce the cost of water filtration plant upgrades and maintenance. Along with improvements to safe drinking water, upland watershed management provides multiple ancillary benefits such as improved ecological resilience and function, as well as opportunities for recreation, biodiversity conservation, increased water yield, and carbon sequestration. These upland conservation and restoration projects can also offer a unique collaboration opportunity for the conservation community to work with drinking water suppliers, the business community, and private landowners. However, unique challenges- such as unmonitored green assets and dwindling water provider revenues- stand in the way of successful source watershed protection for multiple benefits.

Drawing on lessons learned from a WRI Green vs. Grey scoping analysis and a four state Green vs. Grey investigation from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, we discuss when and where it makes environmental, economic and social sense to protect and manage upland forests to produce water as a downstream service and major lessons learned. We will summarize the results of WRI’s Green vs. Grey analysis case-study for Portland, Maine’s primary water supply. This analysis aims to identify the most cost-effective method for the provision of clean water that includes the ancillary benefits of forest conservation and the avoided costs of filtration construction and maintenance should PWD lose its filtration avoidance waiver. The outcome of this scoping work is a cost-benefit analysis that quantifies the trade-offs between provisioning clean water through a multi-barrier approach to watershed management versus the construction of a new water filtration facility. Presenters will also highlight select strategies utilized by drinking water suppliers in New England associated with keeping ratepayer costs down, addressing water quality regulations, and optimizing the benefits of forested watershed management to provide clean drinking water.

Presenter:

Erin Gray, World Resources Institute: Erin is a Research Associate for WRI’s People and Ecosystems Program and is a lead economist for the Green vs. Gray infrastructure scoping analysis for Portland, Maine. Erin received her Master of Environmental Management degree from Duke University’s Nicholas School of the Environment, concentrating in Environmental Economics and Policy. Erin also holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in both Economics and Environmental Analysis and Policy from Boston University. Her previous work experience includes research and economic analysis of ecosystem service markets for the land conservation community in North Carolina and several years as a climate change and sustainability consultant with ICF International. In 2008, she received the National Fish and Wildlife Budweiser Conservation Scholarship for her Master’s project research on the potential of ecosystem service markets for the conservation of private lands.

Emily Alcott, Inter-Fluve, Inc.

Establishing Supply-And-Demand Dynamics For Ecoservices On A Watershed

Abstract:

Ecoservice marketers have focused on the logistics of transactions rather than the entire market structure such as supply-and-demand components and price discovery. Granted, these less tangible macroeconomic components may seem out of reach to today’s buyers and sellers, but ultimately these economic fundamentals must be included to ensure market maturity. To build this new knowledge base, an AgEQA™ delivery model was constructed that allows for on-farm integration of production and natural resource management data. The model uses USDA and university-developed land management indices to provide an outcome-based template. This process converts non-point or diffuse ecoservices into numerical “measurements” and provides stakeholders the means to begin to define sustainability baselines, criteria to calculate credits and “watershed intelligence”. Using the AgEQA™ model, a WWTP can open up a water quality trading market stating that agricultural operations that meet a certain “water quality score” on the entire farm are eligible to participate in the water quality market. In the initial trading phase a minimal amount of supply-side data is available and price discovery data will be less mature. If agricultural producers determine the market signal to be adequate, their trading entry application creates more supply-side information. Over time this leads to price discovery that can be addressed with either bi-lateral contracts or ideally through a truer commodity market trading platform. In summary, the basis for market entry is a resource management level and credit trading parameters based on an increase in the water quality score, or a more tangible market signal such as a payment per acre-foot of water stored during seasonal highs and released during seasonal lows.

Presenter:

Tim Gieseke, Ag Resource Strategies, LLC: Tim Gieseke’s career has focused on agro-ecological issues since receiving his master’s degree in environmental sciences at Minnesota State University – Mankato. During the last two decades he has experience as a farmer, conservation agency staff, federal farm policy analyst, a business owner and most recently as the author of EcoCommerce 101, a book published February 2011 that describes an environmental market signal for agro-ecosystems. His business, Ag Resource Strategies, LLC developed an AgEQA delivery model to provide governance and landscape data support for emerging ecomarkets. He, his wife and three sons reside on their farm in southern Minnesota.

Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) is a base-load clean renewable energy proven technology which uses the ocean’s temperature differential between the warm tropical surface water and the cold deep water to generate both electricity and potable water.

Seawater District Cooling (SDC) which uses cold water pipe technology similar to that used in OTEC, is a proven clean method of air-conditioning buildings, using cold deep seawater in place of polluting standard refrigerants and high energy costs.

SDC systems can reduce electricity usage by up to 90% when compared to conventional air-conditioning, thereby substantially decreasing carbon emissions in our environment and saving hundreds of millions of dollars in electricity costs to industrial and commercial customers over the lifespan of such systems.

In a closed-cycle OTEC system, potable water is produced by diverting some of the electricity output to a desalination facility located adjacent to the OTEC plant. Ocean Thermal Energy Corporation also employs other commercially available water production technologies to best meet the needs of the local communities in conjunction with their OTEC, SDC and waste heat system designs.

OTEC and SDC, like many other sustainable, eco-friendly technologies have been far too slow in coming to commercialization. The reason for this delay is that successfully reaching the marketplace requires the marriage of three distinct elements, each of which is essential in realizing profitability. First, the technology must be fundamentally explainable in its workings and benefits to a variety of audiences, including customers and investors. Second, the commercialization phase must be adequately funded. Third, a business-savvy executive management team must lead the commercialization process, working closely with the company’s science and engineering team in a cohesive integrated fashion. Insufficiency in any one of these three factors can be fatal to ultimate success.

In recognition of these three factors, the JPF Venture Fund, which was created to invest solely in humanitarian sustainable technologies, was founded upon the model that the Fund would not be a passive investor. Rather, when the Fund makes investments in a company, it also takes control of majority ownership, the Board of Directors and key executive management positions to ensure proper business leadership and commercial success. In the case of the JPF Fund and its investment in Ocean Thermal Energy Corporation, the application of this model has led to the company obtaining an executed term sheet and Preliminary Power Purchase Agreement, the projected revenues for which would exceed one billion dollars.

While achieving commercial success, the company has remained true to its ethical sustainable origins, including the core principle that being a responsible global citizen compels OTE Corporation to measure their corporate success not only by financial returns, but also by the humanitarian and environmental benefits the business brings as well.

Presenter:

Jim Greenberg, Ocean Thermal Energy Corporation: James D. Greenberg is a Non-Executive Director and Chief Strategy and Marketing Officer for Ocean Thermal Energy Corporation which has offices in Hawaii and Pennsylvania. Jim is an experienced civil trial lawyer and a skilled business executive. He has practiced law since 1986 and has tried to verdict more than 100 cases, including several groundbreaking victories in major litigation. Jim has achieved the prestigious “A-Rating” among his professional peers and judges reflecting his reputation as a stellar lawyer with the highest ethical standards. From 2000 – 2009 he was Managing Partner of the Law Firm of Katherman, Briggs and Greenberg. Jim was responsible for the business development and a doubling of the size of the practice establishing offices in York, Lancaster and Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. As an experienced businessman, Jim has acquired broad based knowledge covering a wide range of commercial and business issues. He has consistently brought this business acumen to bear in philanthropy, the Arts and environmental stewardship. Jim is devoted to humanitarian causes, serving on many non-profit Boards, including the Susquehanna Waldorf School and the Children’s Home of York. He is also an ardent supporter of the creative arts, particularly film-making, where he has produced/co-produced short, documentary and feature length films, including No God, No Master, starring Oscar Nominee David Strathairn.

Passionate about the many environmental problems that are affecting our world and the human race, especially in regions such as Africa, Jim is committed to helping provide solutions to these mounting global concerns. He is a member of numerous professional organizations, including the Million Dollar Advocates Forum; the York County, Pennsylvania and American Bar Associations as well as a former Member of The Board of Governors of the Pennsylvania Association for Justice.

Rangelands make up about 35% of the land surface in the United States with grazing occurring on 395 million acres of private rangelands and 250 million acres of federally managed allotments. Active management on these lands can improve important ecosystem services including carbon sequestration, hydrologic function and biodiversity – ideal targets for ecosystem service management and markets. Unfortunately, most of the current work on ecosystem service market development has focused on forest management and neglected rangelands. Ecotrust has worked with the Bureau of Land Management, Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board, ranchers, farmers, and other agency staff to begin shifting the focus of ecosystem service analysis to more arid parts of the state.

We have developed ecosystem service evaluation tools specific to rangelands which quantify the links between management and carbon sequestration and hydrologic function. We will discuss ways we have incorporated ecosystem service monitoring into traditional rangeland health indicators in three major products: Rangeland Health in a Changing Climate, Ecosystem Function Calculator, and Ecosystem Service Project Evaluation of Juniper Control.

Presenter:

Caitlin O’Brady, Ecotrust

Steve Dettman, Ecotrust

How Can We Best Use the Internet to Benefit Our Collective Work on Ecosystem Services?

Abstract:

Meetings such as this (Ecosystem Markets) and ACES provide key venues for sharing ideas and building relationships. These intense but infrequent encounters can and should be extended in a variety of ways. INR has been developing a web resource specifically targeted at augmenting knowledge exchanges between people engaged in ecosystem services work of many kinds including research, restoration, technology development, and outreach. The website is designed to provide (1) a user-informed, actively managed portal into what’s happening across the universe of ecosystem services, (2) a platform to host regular, focused discussions on emerging themes of interest and promote events, and (3) a searchable repository of research, projects, and people.

We will use the cafe to conduct a real-time upload of relevant content, interspersed with facilitated discussions to critique and improve the value of the Ecosystem Commons online environment.

Presenter:

Julie Risien, Oregon State University

Rob Fiegener, Oregon State University

Future Market Drivers

Abstract:

Ecosystem market development seems to be focusing around some specific front runners (wetlands under section 404, conservation banking under the ESA and the ongoing efforts to make WQ trading work). But there are many other regulatory and non-regulatory drivers that are on the periphery of the conversation. The question is which of those drivers is going to emerge as the next big ecosystem market, and what will its emergence do to overall market policy and structures. For example, there is new CEQ guidance on mitigation in NEPA that increases the rigor associated with mitigation commitments in NEPA documents. NEPA as an emerging market driver would certainly change the discussion around bundling/stacking and credit certification processes. The panel will be encouraged to think creatively about issues from renewable energy certification, land use planning, corporate supply chain issues, stormwater, etc. Kevin Halsey will moderate the session in a discussion format with encouragement of considerable audience participation in the conversation.

Presenter:

Mark Nechodom, Senior Advisor for Environmental Markets, US Department of Agriculture: Dr. Mark Nechodom is the Senior Policy Advisor for Environmental Markets to the Secretary of Agriculture at the US Department of Agriculture. His primary responsibilities are to lead USDA’s strategy for environmental market development, support emerging regional environmental markets and serve as a policy liaison to key federal agencies that shape the field of environmental market opportunities.

Dr. Nechodom previously served as Acting Director of the newly-founded Office of Environmental Markets at USDA, as Senior Climate Science Policy Advisor for the US Forest Service, as a senior research scientist with the US Forest Service, and was a Visiting Scholar at the University of California, Davis.

Dr. Nechodom‘s early career included being an agricultural and environmental policy advisor, consultant and researcher in Mexico and other parts of Latin America. He was a visiting lecturer at the Universidad de Michoacán and published a book at Johns Hopkins School for Advanced International Studies on food and agricultural policy in rural Mexico. He earned his doctorate in political science and environmental policy from the University of California, Santa Cruz, where he taught for several years before joining the federal government.

Adam Davis, Solano Partners, Ecosystem Investment Partners

Craig Duxbury, Disney

Water Rights’ Role in Ecosystem Service Markets of the West

Abstract:

In the West no water right means no water. Ecosystem services are no exception when it comes to the importance of water rights. Securing water rights is a critical component of establishing mitigation banks.

This session will demonstrate the importance of water rights in mitigation bank development and will help you to recognize additional market opportunities that these water rights assets provide.

Asset Management

Mitigation banks in the West require appropriate consideration of existing water rights. Researching and taking inventory of all water rights and determining how to reallocate them is critical to the overall success of mitigation bank development. Furthermore, securing valid water rights for a mitigation bank can increase its return on investment and decrease its legal risk of water rights. Having valid water rights can also lead to additional market opportunities.

Market Opportunities

Pressure to reallocate water rights from agriculture to urban and environmental use is driving water quantity markets across the West. With increasing thirst and decreasing supply, this arid region needs an efficient system to distribute water rights among competing users. The answer lies in private water quantity banking. Water banks provide private market opportunities to mitigate groundwater development. Stacking water quantity banks with other mitigation banks offers additional profits for mitigation bank development.

Presenter:

Chris Corbin, Lotic Water Marketing: Chris Corbin is the founder of Lotic LLC — a water rights marketing and management company that turns blue into green. Chris’s undergraduate degree in water resource management and Masters in Business Administration (MBA) provide a unique combination of water ingenuity and business acumen in the water market. This education in conjunction with additional experience as a project manager at the Montana Water Trust, a water right specialist at PBS&J, and a guerilla marketer at Big Sky Brewing Company, led him to pursue an entrepreneurial vision for Lotic. As founder of Lotic, Chris has provided consultation on water banks, water rights asset management, water marketing plans, water capital improvements, water rights audits, water rights valuations, mitigation plans, and water rights brokerage. As a result of his early success in the emerging water market, Chris frequently presents on the topics of water markets and water marketing. When Chris is not working with water, he can be found wading in water with a fly rod in his hand and a golden retriever at his side.

A Landowner’s Perspective: Surveys on Ecosystem Service Payments in California and North Carolina

Abstract:

Private lands comprise about sixty percent of the United States and the majority of these lands provide a number of benefits including water purification, flood control, wildlife habitat, and climate regulation. Paying private landowners for these ecosystem services is essential for safeguarding working landscapes and creating a network of permeable lands that mitigate disasters, improve adaptability to climate fluxes, and are hospitable to migrating wildlife.

We conducted two surveys exploring the potential for creating payments for ecosystem services (PES) in the California Central Valley and five counties in North Carolina. These analyses describe survey respondent’s demographics, their knowledge and attitudes toward current conservation programs, their interest in participating in potential PES programs, and what attributes of a potential PES program are most important to them. We will discuss the results of these two surveys and how the comparisons could inform the development of future PES programs or markets.

Presenters:

Molly Cheatum, Conservation Economics Associate, Defenders of Wildlife: Molly Cheatum focuses on innovative payment programs and market-based approaches to pay private landowners for implementing conservation practices on their lands. Specifically, her work involves researching the potential application of ecosystem service markets in North Carolina and water quality/quantity markets in California. She also focuses on estimating the economic values associated with biodiversity and habitat conservation. She received a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Science from the University of Mary Washington, and a dual master’s degree in conservation of natural resources and sustainable development from American University and University for Peace in Costa Rica.

Ben Parkhurst, Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University: Ben Parkhurst is working this summer with the Climate Action Reserve (CAR) developing protocols for forest offset projects in the US and REDD projects in Mexico. His past work includes work with the Defenders of Wildlife analyzing California rancher’s attitudes towards payments for ecosystem services, researching forest carbon offsets with the Duke Carbon Offset Initiative, and researching agricultural carbon offsets with the Technical Working Group on Agricultural Greenhouse Gases at the Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions. He is pursuing a dual master’s degree in Environmental Management and Forestry at Duke University, and received bachelor’s degrees in Economics and Environment and Natural Resources at the University of Wyoming.

The Conservation Registry

Abstract:

The Conservation Registry acts as a centralized place to share information on conservation and restoration projects across the landscape. Users can view locations via a map view, find similar projects using advanced search tools and see summary reporting on a state by state basis. This includes projects designed to conserve ecosystem services, ranging from quantifying values to selling credits, all viewable in context with all other Registry projects to give users a better understanding of the big picture.

This session will demonstrate a new portal on the Registry dedicated to ecosystem services and markets, called the Marketplace for Nature. It’s a place to learn about ecosystem services, see how to add projects supporting ecosystem services, and find out about other resources on the topic. Users can search projects by ecosystem service type and location, all while viewing relevant map layers such as regional market boundaries.

Presenter:

Ty Montgomery, The Other Firm: Ty is primarily responsible for business operations, client relationships and project oversight for The Other Firm, a leading online solution development service provider. Previously, Ty was a marketing executive in the advertising and financial services industries. The Other Firm specializes in the design, development and management of results-driven, user-centric web resources and has produced several well-regarded applications for the conservation and environmental sector including The Conservation Registry, LandServer, The Bay Bank and the Ecosystem Crediting Platform. Clients include Defenders of Wildlife, DJ Case & Associates, The Nature Conservancy, The Pinchot Institute, The Willamette Partnership and USDA.

Partnering With the Military Services to Protect Water, Ecosystems, and Military Training

Abstract:

Partnering with the military services (Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force) to protect land on a regional scale provides an excellent opportunity for state and local agencies and private conservation organizations to protect natural habitat and to preserve ecosystem services. The Department of Defense owns or controls an estimated 29,000,000 acres of land in the United States. Much of this land is concentrated in large installations located in rapidly-urbanizing areas, where it represents the “habitat of last resort” for many threatened and endangered species. Large segments of these installations and training ranges are maintained in their natural state to serve as training and buffer areas, providing ecosystem-scale biodiversity, water sources, air cleansing, and carbon sequestration. Identifying, improving, and leveraging the ecosystem services values of military lands can provide mutual benefits for public agencies, private conservation organizations, and the military.

Partnering on ecosystem services projects is a logical progression of DoD’s working relationship with natural resources and conservation organizations. Under the Sikes Act, the military services develop integrated natural resources management plans for their installations and training ranges in cooperation with federal and state conservation agencies. In 2003, Congress gave DoD its “conservation partnering” authority. This statute authorized the military departments to contribute to the cost of conservation easements and land purchases that are “ecologically related” to military bases and training ranges to buffer them from encroachment. Partnering with the military to explicitly protect ecosystem services through an integrated regional strategy is a new way to expand this working relationship.

Presenter:

Richard Engel, Marstel-Day, LLC: Richard Engel is Marstel-Day’s Senior Real Estate and Land Use Advisor responsible for developing multi-stakeholder conservation partnering and compatible land use planning strategies, with a goal of preserving working lands and natural habitat on an ecosystem scale.

Mr. Engel developed the “Eastern North Carolina Land Use Strategy” for Marine Corps Installations East, for which Marstel-Day received the American Planning Association’s award for “Outstanding Collaborative Federal Planning Project”. He is currently developing an ecosystems-based water security strategy for the Army. Mr. Engel pioneered Navy’s conservation conveyance program and he is developing strategies to identify the ecosystem services values of federal lands.

What’s the Value of Valuation? Opportunities and Challenges in Making the Business Case for Corporate Valuation of Ecosystem Services

Abstract:

While a growing number of companies are interested in including ecosystem service valuation in their decision making processes, most companies still have not made significant commitments to valuation. This session will use inter-active survey tools to help identify and discuss the challenges in making the business case for ecosystem service valuation. This session will also identify and discuss specific priorities for overcoming these challenges.

Presenter:

Doug MacNair, Ph.D., Practice Leader – Natural Resource Economics, Cardno ENTRIX: Doug MacNair, Ph.D. is the Practice Leader for Natural Resource Economics for Cardno ENTRIX. The practice helps clients value ecosystem and natural resource services in their decision making using multi-criteria decision analysis and other quantitative tools. The types of projects include watershed protection, land-use planning, water resources and environmental liability management. He has also led major natural resource assessment projects that quantify the intangible value of human use of the environment, including fishing, hunting, outdoor recreation, aesthetics and open space. Prior to his career in environmental economics, he was the Associate Director of Economic Research for NASDAQ, the over-the-counter stock market.

Closing Plenary: Where Do We Go From Here?

Featuring speakers from Disney, Pepsi, Dow, Plum Creek, and the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association / Partners for Western Conservation sharing their thoughts and reflections on the conference and discussing what needs to happen to move market-based approaches into the mainstream.

Tim Carey, Pepsi

John DiMuro, Dow

Craig Duxbury, Disney

Rob Olszewski, Plum Creek

T. Wright Dickinson, 1st Vice President, Colorado Cattlemen’s Association; Board Member, Partners for Western Conservation: T. Wright Dickinson is a partner in his family ranch, Vermillion Ranch Ltd, located 90 miles north-west of Craig, Colo. The family’s ranch was established in 1885 and has been run and operated by the family since its inception.

T. Wright has been a member of the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association (CCA) for over 40 years and has been very active within the association. In addition to his work on the ranch, T. Wright has served two terms as the Moffat County Commissioner, served on the board for Great Outdoors Colorado Trust Fund, Chairman of Club 20’s Public Lands Committee, as Director of the Colorado Public Lands Council, along with other posts and positions throughout the state and nation.

T. Wright currently serves as the 1st Vice President of CCA and is a founding board member for Partners for Western Conservation (PWC). PWC was founded to implement market-based conservation and ecosystems services to benefit wildlife, the environment, landowners, and the regulated community.

Carl Palmer, Beartooth Capital Partners: Carl is the co-founder and Principal of Beartooth Capital, a pioneering investment management firm whose mission is to generate strong investment returns along with real conservation results and community benefits. Beartooth has more than $65M under management in its first two funds. To date Beartooth’s first fund has protected more than 11,000 acres of important habitat and open space, restored 50+ miles of creek and created several public park and its financial performance is in the top quartile of all private equity funds of its vintage. Carl received a BA in Architectural Studies and in Environmental Studies from Brown University and an MBA from Stanford University.